Punjab beaten by Gambhir-led KKR

KKR made one change to their playing eleven – Jaydev Unadkat made way for Rajat Bhatia.

KXIP (Shar)made a couple of changes to their playing eleven – Sunny Singh and Shalabh Srivastava made way for Bipul and Bhargav Bhatt.

On winning the toss, Gautam Gambhir, KKR’s skipper, chose to field.

The first Powerplay of KXIP’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 40, and lost a couple of wickets.

Although his eight-ball innings included a boundary, Paul Valthaty had no reason to be in seventh heaven – 27 balls into the match, he was caught by Manoj Tiwary. Yusuf Pathan broke the 32-run stand.

The second-wicket pair put on eight. Although his innings included a boundary, Shaun Marsh had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored five. Nine balls (Abdul)later, Shreevats Goswami and Iqbal, the player of the match, ran him out.

Adam Gilchrist, KXIP’s skipper, scored 26. His 27-ball innings included three boundaries and a six. Eleven balls later, Abdulla broke the four-run stand.

KXIP scored 50 off 8.4 overs (52 balls). KKR had conceded three extras at that point.

The fourth-wicket pair put on nine. Abhishek Nayar, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t get off the mark. Nine balls later, Eoin Morgan and Goswami ran him out.

David Hussey, whose 20-ball innings included a boundary, scored 15. Twenty-four balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Abdulla, who broke the 33-run stand.

KXIP scored 100 off 17 overs (102 balls). KKR had conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

The sixth-wicket pair put on 31. Dinesh Karthik, whose run-a-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 42. Twenty-eight balls after Hussey’s dismissal, Pathan and Goswami ran him out.

Bipul, whose 12-ball innings included a boundary, scored 16. He was unbeaten, as was Praveen Kumar, who faced a couple of balls, scoring as many.

KXIP scored 119 for the loss of half-a-dozen wickets off 20 overs.

Tiwary, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded nine.

Lakshmipathy Balaji, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 21.

Brett Lee and Bhatia bowled four wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 27, the latter conceded 18.

Pathan, who bowled four overs, conceded 24. He picked up a wicket.

Abdulla, who bowled four overs, conceded 19. He picked up a couple of scalps.

The first Powerplay of KKR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 45, and lost a couple of wickets.

Jacques Kallis, who faced four balls, scored a run. Seven balls into the chase, he was caught by Hussey. Bhatt broke the five-run stand.

Morgan, whose 15-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 28. Nineteen balls laterm he was caught by Ryan Harris. Bhatt broke the 30-run stand.

KKR scored 50 off 6.2 overs (38 balls). KXIP had conceded four extras at that point.

The third-wicket pair put on 50 off 46 balls. While Gambhir’s contribution to the partnership was 21, Tiwary’s contribution to it was 19. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was 10.

KKR scored 100 off 14.2 overs (86 balls). KXIP had conceded 11 extras at that point.

Gambhir, whose 44-ball innings included four boundaries, eventually scored 45. He was unbeaten, as was Tiwary, who eventually scored 34. His 41-ball innings included three boundaries and a six.

KXIP eventually scored 12 extras. KKR, who scored 120 for the loss of a couple of wickets off 17.2 overs, won by eight wickets with 16 balls to spare.

Hussey, Kumar, Harris, Valthaty and Bipul bowled a couple of wicketless overs apiece. They conceded 19, 14, 13, 13, and nine, respectively.

Chawla bowled 3.2 wicketless overs, conceding 29.

Bhatt bowled four overs, conceding 22. He picked up both the wickets that fell.