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Jaipur - Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis blazed unbeaten half-centuries as the Kolkata Knight Riders hammered the Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets in their IPL match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Friday.
A belligerent Gambhir lashed a fiery 75 not out off 44 balls and Kallis stroked a fine 80 not out off 65 balls as they rushed the Knight Riders to their target of 160 with nine balls to spare.
The Knight Riders will now be installed amongst the favourites after beating Rajasthan at their home fortress and joining them and the Pune Warriors and the Mumbai Indians at the top of the standings on four points.
Kallis will once again be the owner of the Orange Cap for the leading run-scorer after his beautiful display of strokemanship, and his partnership of 152 off 104 balls with Gambhir is a second-wicket record in the IPL, and the third biggest partnership in the competition's history.
Gambhir and Kallis shrugged off the loss of a quick wicket, Manvinder Bisla being run out for a single in the second over as he responded as slowly as yeast turning into beer to a quick single by Kallis.
But the left-handed Gambhir was quick to land some powerful counter-strikes as he hammered 11 fours and a six, completing a great half-century off just 28 balls.
Kallis moved sedately on at a run-a-ball, reaching his third successive fifty in 46 balls, before going on a late run spree at the end of the innings as he finished with seven fours and two sixes.
Excellent bowling by the Kolkata Knight Riders had earlier restricted the Rajasthan Royals to 159 for four.
Off-spinner Yusuf Pathan, who claimed two for four in his only over, and Bangladesh slow left-armer Shakib al-Hasan (two for 31) were particularly outstanding as a handful of Rajasthan batsmen got themselves in, but then got themselves out without fully capitalising.
New Zealand's Ross Taylor gave the innings an extra spurt with an exciting 35 not out off 25 balls at the end.
Fast bowler Brett Lee was superb up front, bowling his first two overs for just seven runs, but he then conceded 22 runs bowling the 18th and 20th overs.
Shakib, who will be looking to restore his big reputation after Bangladesh's World Cup flop, struck in his first over in the IPL with a beautiful piece of bowling that saw a charging Amit Paunikar (9) deceived by a slower delivery that gripped and turned, edging a simple catch to Kallis at short third man.
Rahul Dravid and Ashok Menaria then staged a fine partnership, adding 52 in seven overs to leave the Royals well-placed on 78 for one in the 12th over. That was when Pathan bowled his single over and he quickly made his presence felt by bowling Dravid with his third ball.
The former Indian captain will be upset with his shot - a wild heave across the line - and also that he did not go on after scoring 35 off 34 balls.
The hiccup became a full-scale cough for the Royals just two balls later when Menaria was caught-and-bowled by Pathan for 27 off 21 balls.
Menaria backed away to leg to hit through the off side, but the bearded spinner followed him and the cramped batsman could only slap the ball straight back to the bowler.
Shane Watson came in and hit a couple of sixes far into the stands off Shakib, but the skilful spinner had the last laugh when he bowled his Australian nemesis for 22 off 13 balls.
Taylor, the sort of batsman who can empty the bars when he is in full flight, was kept to a relatively banal two fours and two sixes.
South Africa's Johan Botha, who is enjoying an exceptional tournament with the bat, was once again not out, scoring 12 off 12 balls and rotating the strike in excellent fashion.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: SR Watson, R Dravid, J Botha, AL Menaria, LRPL Taylor, AG Paunikar (wk), AS Raut, SK Warne (capt), A Singh, SK Trivedi, ND Doshi
Kolkata Knight Riders: JH Kallis, MS Bisla (wk), G Gambhir (capt), MK Tiwary, YK Pathan, EJG Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Iqbal Abdulla, R Bhatia, B Lee, L Balaji
A belligerent Gambhir lashed a fiery 75 not out off 44 balls and Kallis stroked a fine 80 not out off 65 balls as they rushed the Knight Riders to their target of 160 with nine balls to spare.
The Knight Riders will now be installed amongst the favourites after beating Rajasthan at their home fortress and joining them and the Pune Warriors and the Mumbai Indians at the top of the standings on four points.
Kallis will once again be the owner of the Orange Cap for the leading run-scorer after his beautiful display of strokemanship, and his partnership of 152 off 104 balls with Gambhir is a second-wicket record in the IPL, and the third biggest partnership in the competition's history.
Gambhir and Kallis shrugged off the loss of a quick wicket, Manvinder Bisla being run out for a single in the second over as he responded as slowly as yeast turning into beer to a quick single by Kallis.
But the left-handed Gambhir was quick to land some powerful counter-strikes as he hammered 11 fours and a six, completing a great half-century off just 28 balls.
Kallis moved sedately on at a run-a-ball, reaching his third successive fifty in 46 balls, before going on a late run spree at the end of the innings as he finished with seven fours and two sixes.
Excellent bowling by the Kolkata Knight Riders had earlier restricted the Rajasthan Royals to 159 for four.
Off-spinner Yusuf Pathan, who claimed two for four in his only over, and Bangladesh slow left-armer Shakib al-Hasan (two for 31) were particularly outstanding as a handful of Rajasthan batsmen got themselves in, but then got themselves out without fully capitalising.
New Zealand's Ross Taylor gave the innings an extra spurt with an exciting 35 not out off 25 balls at the end.
Fast bowler Brett Lee was superb up front, bowling his first two overs for just seven runs, but he then conceded 22 runs bowling the 18th and 20th overs.
Shakib, who will be looking to restore his big reputation after Bangladesh's World Cup flop, struck in his first over in the IPL with a beautiful piece of bowling that saw a charging Amit Paunikar (9) deceived by a slower delivery that gripped and turned, edging a simple catch to Kallis at short third man.
Rahul Dravid and Ashok Menaria then staged a fine partnership, adding 52 in seven overs to leave the Royals well-placed on 78 for one in the 12th over. That was when Pathan bowled his single over and he quickly made his presence felt by bowling Dravid with his third ball.
The former Indian captain will be upset with his shot - a wild heave across the line - and also that he did not go on after scoring 35 off 34 balls.
The hiccup became a full-scale cough for the Royals just two balls later when Menaria was caught-and-bowled by Pathan for 27 off 21 balls.
Menaria backed away to leg to hit through the off side, but the bearded spinner followed him and the cramped batsman could only slap the ball straight back to the bowler.
Shane Watson came in and hit a couple of sixes far into the stands off Shakib, but the skilful spinner had the last laugh when he bowled his Australian nemesis for 22 off 13 balls.
Taylor, the sort of batsman who can empty the bars when he is in full flight, was kept to a relatively banal two fours and two sixes.
South Africa's Johan Botha, who is enjoying an exceptional tournament with the bat, was once again not out, scoring 12 off 12 balls and rotating the strike in excellent fashion.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: SR Watson, R Dravid, J Botha, AL Menaria, LRPL Taylor, AG Paunikar (wk), AS Raut, SK Warne (capt), A Singh, SK Trivedi, ND Doshi
Kolkata Knight Riders: JH Kallis, MS Bisla (wk), G Gambhir (capt), MK Tiwary, YK Pathan, EJG Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Iqbal Abdulla, R Bhatia, B Lee, L Balaji
