Hosts Kolkata Knight Riders paced their innings beautifully to chase down a target of 132 successfully on a slow and square turning surface at the Eden Gardens. The homeside overcame the magic of Brad Hogg (4-0-20-1) to secure their second win of the IPL 5. For the Rajasthan Royals, it was a second defeat.
It was the second wicket stand of 48 between Jacques Kallis (31 from 38 balls with 3 fours) and Manvinder Bisla (29 from 29 balls with 3 fours) that laid the foundation for KKR in the run chase. The much needed acceleration in the latter half came from Manoj Tiwary (24 from 18 balls with a four and a six) while Shakib Al Hasan came up with the winning blows with his crucial cameo of 16 from 10 balls with a four and a six in the penultimate over.
Kolkata Knight Riders won comfortably towards the end by 5 wickets leaving just the one run to get from the final over. Shakib Al Hasan got the Man of the Match award.
Rajasthan Royals struggle to reach 131 for 5
Rajasthan Royals reached a competitive total of 131 for 5 on a turning pitch at the Eden Gardens. It was a tough pitch to play the big shots and Rajasthan Royals should be happy to get to that total. Owais Shah was the top scorer although he struggled to score his 31 from 33 balls with just three fours.
On the slow turning pitch, left arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan made life miserable for the batsmen taking 3 for 17 in 4 overs.
Toss and Teams: Rajasthan Royals have won the toss and elected to bat first against hosts Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The pitch at the Eden Gardens has been difficult for the batsmen with the ball turning square for the spinners! Keeping that in mind, KKR have brought in Sunil Narine in place of Brett Lee. Rajasthan Royals will miss the services of Kevon Cooper because of an injury and have got Brad Hodge to replace him.
Kolkata Knight Riders: JH Kallis, G Gambhir (Captain), MK Tiwary, YK Pathan, RN ten Doeschate, Shakib Al Hasan, DB Das, R Bhatia, L Balaji, MS Bisla (Wicket Keeper), SP Narine
Rajasthan Royals: AM Rahane, R Dravid (Captain), AL Menaria, J Botha, BJ Hodge, GB Hogg, AA Chavan, OA Shah, SP Goswami (Wicket Keeper), A Singh, SK Trivedi
