Kochi beat Kolkata by six runs in an IPL match that went down to the wire at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday
Kochi beat Kolkata by six runs in an IPL match that went down to the wire at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
More than the batsmen it was a day the bowlers thrived on with 19 wickets falling in the match. But, it was Kochi captain Mahela Jayawardene, who won the Man of the Match award.
Earlier in the Kolkata innings, Jacques Kallis attempted to play a big one off R Vinay Kumar in the fourth over, but ended up getting caught in the deep by Kedar Jadhav on 24/1. In came Kochi paceman RP Singh and out went Kolkata skipper Gautam Gambhir with a fine yorker uprooting his middle stump on 3 and Kolkata were 27/2.
The other opener, Manvinder Bisla, too did not stay for long and was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja on 16 even as Kolkata were three wickets down for 37.
Finally, Manoj Tiwary and Eoin Morgan forged a partnership and just when the two were beginning to settle down, Morgan got run out ruining their plans. Morgan fell for 10 and Kolkata were at 73/4 in 12.2 overs.
Another wicket, this time of Shakib Al Hasan and Kochi came back into the game, which at one point looked drifting away from them. This was RP Singh's second wicket in the match and it too was a clean bowled. Kolkata were 86/5 at the stage.
Then it was time for Ranji Trophy veteran Ramesh Powar to show his skills with the ball. His off-break left Yusuf Pathan guessing even as he ended up giving a catch to Kochi's Sri Lankan import Muttiah Muralitharan near the mid-wicket boundary for 8. And Kolkata were down to 97/6.
Lone ranger Manoj Tiwary, who was battling the odds, too fell as Kochi tightened the noose. He scored a dogged 46 before falling to Jadeja in the 17th over when the team total was 101/7.
In the 18th over Brett Lee, an accomplished bowler, but not an accomplished batsman became Muttiah Muralitharan's first victim when the Kolkata score was 105.
In the last over, Kolkata needed nine runs off two balls and Vinay Kumar was the bowler, and their last recognised batsman Rajat Bhatia went for a double but ended up getting a run and Kolkata needed eight runs off the last ball. New man L Balaji scored one run off the last ball as Kochi won the match by six runs.
Kochi pacer RP Singh finished with impressive figures of 4-0-25-2.
Kochi innings
Kolkata bowlers Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan took three wickets each to restrict Kochi to 132/7 in this 22nd IPL match at the Eden Gardens
After being put to bat by opposition skipper Gautam Gambhir, who won the toss, Kochi were batting with ease with openers Brendon McCullum and captain Mahela Jayawardene at the crease. The two have been in good nick and were looking set for a big score, but Kolkata's Bangladeshi import Shakib Al Hasan struck on the last ball of the seven over to break their 49-run stand.
A tame shot off McCullum saw him give an easy catch to Eoin Morgan at backward point when he was batting on 23. The partnership broken, Jayawardene too did not last long and was sent back by Yusuf Pathan on 25 who had him leg before wicket. Kochi were 52/2 at the stage.
In the 10th over, Yusuf Pathan struck and clean bowled Brad Hodge cheaply to reduce Kochi to 55/3. An inside edge of Hodge's bat shattered his stumps when he was batting on 2. It wasn't over for Pathan, who then removed Parthiv Patel leg before in his next over and Kochi were down to 65/4.
Shakib came around to do some more damage in the 15th over. He scalped Kedar Jadhav on the lastball of the over and the Kochi scoreboard read 100/5.
But Ravindra Jadeja was still at the crease and when he gets going, he makes the bowlers pay, no matter how illustrious they may be. But, that phenomenon didn't come to pass as Kolkata's Aussie import Brett Lee thought otherwise. Jadeja went for a big one off him and ended up giving a catch to Yusuf Pathan near the boundary. He fell on 29 and Kochi were 105/6.
Kolkata bowlers were keeping a tight line, giving no room to the oppostion batsmen to score. For as soon as a Kochi batsman tried to get loose he would find himself walking back to the dugout. Then next in line was R Vinay Kumar, bowled Shakib on 11 and Kochi were down to 127/7.
Kochi managed to add five runs more and finish the innings on 132/7.
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