RR, Kolkata tie; Warne delighted

RR made three changes to their playing (Pat)eleven – Swapnil Asnodkar, Niraj and Tyron Henderson made way for a pair of Twenty20 debutants (Paul Valthaty and Abhishek Raut) and Rob Quiney.

KKR made four changes to their playing eleven – Aakash Chopra, Moises Henriques, Murali Kartik and Ashok Dinda made way for Sanjay Bangar, Ajit Agarkar, Ajantha Mendis and Twenty20 debutant Anureet Singh.

(Brend)On winning the toss, McCullum, KKR’s skipper, chose to field.

Rain interrupted the start of the match.

The first Powerplay of RR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 54, and lost a couple of wickets.

Although his innings included a boundary, Valthaty had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored five. A couple of overs into the (Shar)match, he was caught by Ishant. Anureet broke the eight-run stand.

Quiney, who faced a couple of balls, scored half-a-dozen. His runs came by way of a six. A couple of balls later, he was caught by Chris Gayle. Sharma broke the six-run stand.

RR scored 50 off 5.5 overs (35 balls). KKR had conceded a couple of extras at that point.

The second-wicket pair put on 50 off (Smi)thirty-one balls. While Graeme’s contribution to the partnership was 10, the contribution of Yusuf Pathan, the player of the match, was 38. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a couple. 

Smith, whose 21-ball innings included a boundary, eventually scored 15. Thirty-five balls after Quiney’s (Men)dismissal, he was caught by Gayle. The Sri Lankan spinner broke the 56-run partnership.

Pathan, whose 21-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and a couple of sixes, eventually scored 42. Five balls later, he was caught by Yashpal Singh. Mendis broke the three-run stand.

Ten overs into the match, RR had scored 78 for the loss of four wickets at that point. While Ravindra Jadeja had scored five, Dimitri Mascarenhas had scored a run.

RR scored 100 off 14.2 overs (86 balls). KKR had conceded five extras at that point.

Jadeja, who faced 26 balls, eventually scored 22. Forty-four balls after Pathan’s dismissal, he was caught by Yashpal. Sharma broke the 39-run stand.

Mascarenhas, whose 28-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, eventually scored 27. Ten balls later, Anureet broke the 13-run stand.

Raut, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary and a couple of sixes, scored 21. He was unbeaten, as was Shane Warne, RR’s skipper, faced a couple of balls, scoring as many.

RR scored 150 (for the loss of half-a-dozen wickets) off 20 overs (120 balls). KKR had conceded 10 extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Agarkar, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded 14.

Sourav Ganguly, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 23.

Gayle, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 20.

Sharma, Anureet and Mendis bowled four overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. They conceded 36, 35, and 19, respectively.

The first Powerplay of KKR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 38, and lost a wicket.

McCullum, who faced nine balls, scored just three. Four overs into the chase, he was caught by Kamran Khan. Mascarenhas broke the 25-run stand.

KKR scored 50 off 7.4 overs (46 balls). The number of extras they had conceded at that point gave no reason to be in seventh heaven.

Gayle, whose 33-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and four sixes, scored 41. Twenty-six balls after McCullum’s dismissal, he was caught by Jadeja. Warne broke the 35-run stand.

Laxmi Ratan, whose run-a-ball innings included a boundary, scored 13. Nine ballS(huk)later, he was caught by Mahesh Rawat. Needless to say, Khan was in seventh heaven.

Ten overs into the match, KKR had scored 67 for the loss of three wickets at that point. While Brad Hodge had scored a couple, Ganguly hadn’t opened his account.

Hodge had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored five. Half-a-dozen balls after Shukla’s dismissal, he was caught by Rawat. Munaf Patel broke the four-run stand.

Bangar, who faced nine balls, scored just a couple. Nineteen balls later, he was caught by Smith. Khan broke the 23-run stand.

KKR scored 100 off 15.2 overs (92 balls). RR had conceded 13 extras at that point.

Yashpal, whose 18-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 20. Twenty-nine balls later, he was caught by Raut. Warne broke the 49-run stand.

Ganguly, whose 30-ball innings included four boundaries and a couple of sixes, eventually scored 46. Half-a-dozen balls later, he was caught by Rawat. Khan broke the run-a-ball stand.

Agarkar, who faced a ball, scored a run. He was unbeaten.

The eighth-wicket pair put on a run. Sharma, who faced a ball, scored a run. The next ball, Khan and Rawat ran him out. 

KKR scored 150 (for the loss of eight wickets) off 20 overs (121 balls). RR had conceded 18 extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

As a result, the match ended in a tie, and had to be decided via a Super Over.

Jadeja, who bowled an over, had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he was wicketless, as was Pathan, who bowled four overs, conceding 27.

Munaf, who bowled three overs, conceded 36. He picked up a wicket, as was Mascarenhas, who bowled four overs, including a maiden. He conceded 29.

Warne, who bowled four overs, conceded 25. He picked up a couple of wickets.

Khan, who bowled four overs, conceded 18. He picked up three scalps.

While Khan bowled the Super Over for RR, Gayle and McCullum faced it for KKR.

The Jamaican scored a run off the first ball, and the New Zealander scored one off the second.

A wide was conceded off the third ball, which was faced by Gayle.

It had to be bowled again, and he scored a boundary.

Fours were scored off the next two balls, and Gayle was caught by Quiney off the bowling of Khan for 13.

KKR scored 15 for the loss of a wicket off the Super Over.

Therefore, RR’s target was 16.

While Mendis bowled the Super Over for KKR, Pathan faced it for RR.

He scored a six off the first ball, a couple off the second, a six off the third, and a boundary off the fourth.

Hence, RR, who scored 18 without the loss of a wicket off four balls, won the one-over eliminator.