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Kochi - Brilliant bowling by the Kochi Tuskers' unheralded seamers led them to victory by 17 runs in their IPL match against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Nehru Stadium on Thursday.
While the Tuskers boast fine fast bowlers in Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh and Vinay Kumar, it was the little-known duo of Raiphi Gomez and Prasanth Parameswaran who allowed the home side to defend a total of 157.
The Knight Riders finished on 139 for seven and will be livid they wasted a solid opening stand of 69 in 10 overs between Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan.
Egged on by a raucous crowd, Gomez and Parameswaran strangled the Knight Riders in then second half of their innings, Gomez removing Kallis (45) and Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir (0) with successive deliveries and young Parameswaran keeping his cool as he conceded just 13 runs in the 16th and 18th overs.
It meant Kolkata had too much to do at the end of their innings, with 31 runs required off the last two overs and Morgan (66), Yusuf Pathan (17), Brett Lee (1) and Mark Boucher (5) all lost their wickets in the wild slog.
There wasn't any sign of the problems to come for the Knight Riders as Kallis cruised to 45 off 41 balls, before the great batsman did not make allowance for a clever leg-roller from Gomez, drove inside the line of the ball and was bowled.
Gambhir then embarrassed himself by arrogantly slapping his first ball to cover, a shot most unbefitting of a captain.
Morgan batted on till the penultimate over and he and Pathan were Kolkata's last hopes, before both fell in successive deliveries, their partnership being worth 35 in 4.4 overs.
Gomez's figures of two for 14 in four overs were exceptional, while left-armer Parameswaran (4-0-21-0) and Vinay (4-0-28-2) were both excellent as well.
Pratap went to the other extreme, conceding 44 runs in his four overs, although he did take one for seven in the 20th over.
A top-class half-century from Mahela Jayawardena and a sensational last-over assault by Brad Hodge had lifted the Kerala Tuskers to 156 for five.
A tidy Kolkata attack seemed to have things well under control almost throughout the innings and it took a knock of great class and skill by skipper Jayawardena to get Kerala as far as 134 for five after 19 overs.
But Hodge then launched a dazzling assault on fellow Australian Lee, hitting two sixes and two fours off alternate balls in a woeful final over that cost 22 runs as the fast bowler kept striving for the yorker but bowled half-volleys instead.
Kolkata had previously been in charge as they culled the top-order at regular intervals, left-arm paceman Jaidev Unadkat taking two for 25 and Pathan and Rajat Bhatia each claiming a wicket as well.
Lee had earlier bowled an inspired first over, after Kolkata had won the toss and chosen to bowl, that had Brendon McCullum in an absolute tangle.
The Kiwi fell in the second over as McCullum, who could manage just a single in eight balls, edged an awful short, wide delivery to Kallis at slip.
Parthiv Patel (21) made an impressive start as he blitzed four quick boundaries before being caught off an ambitious pull shot off Unadkat.
Michael Klinger and Jayawardena steadied the innings with a third-wicket stand of 51 off 40 balls, but the Tuskers could not afford to lose Klinger when they did, the Australian coming down the pitch to off-spinner Pathan and holing out at deep midwicket, where Iqbal Abdulla took a well-judged catch right on the boundary.
Ravindra Jadeja (8) soon exited, top-edging medium-pacer Bhatia to deep square-leg, but Jayawardena went on to an excellent half-century off 38 balls before being run out for 55 off 41 by Sarabjit Ladda's pinpoint throw to Kallis from long-off at the end of the penultimate over.
But Hodge, who finished with 35 not out off 19 balls, then provided the exceptional finish and a match-winning total for Kerala.
Fast bowler Unadkat was the pick of the attack, but Pathan did a fine job from the 12th over with one for 16 in three overs, while Kallis will be pleased with his continued progress in his comeback to bowling as he bowled three overs for 21.
Teams:
Kochi Tuskers Kerala: EJG Morgan, JH Kallis, G Gambhir*, YK Pathan, MK Tiwary, MV Boucher†, R Bhatia, Iqbal Abdulla, B Lee, S Ladda, JD Unadkat
Kolkata Knight Riders: M Klinger, BB McCullum, DPMD Jayawardene*, PA Patel†, BJ Hodge, RA Jadeja, RV Gomez, R Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, P Parameswaran
Kochi - Brilliant bowling by the Kochi Tuskers' unheralded seamers led them to victory by 17 runs in their IPL match against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Nehru Stadium on Thursday.
While the Tuskers boast fine fast bowlers in Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh and Vinay Kumar, it was the little-known duo of Raiphi Gomez and Prasanth Parameswaran who allowed the home side to defend a total of 157.
The Knight Riders finished on 139 for seven and will be livid they wasted a solid opening stand of 69 in 10 overs between Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan.
Egged on by a raucous crowd, Gomez and Parameswaran strangled the Knight Riders in then second half of their innings, Gomez removing Kallis (45) and Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir (0) with successive deliveries and young Parameswaran keeping his cool as he conceded just 13 runs in the 16th and 18th overs.
It meant Kolkata had too much to do at the end of their innings, with 31 runs required off the last two overs and Morgan (66), Yusuf Pathan (17), Brett Lee (1) and Mark Boucher (5) all lost their wickets in the wild slog.
There wasn't any sign of the problems to come for the Knight Riders as Kallis cruised to 45 off 41 balls, before the great batsman did not make allowance for a clever leg-roller from Gomez, drove inside the line of the ball and was bowled.
Gambhir then embarrassed himself by arrogantly slapping his first ball to cover, a shot most unbefitting of a captain.
Morgan batted on till the penultimate over and he and Pathan were Kolkata's last hopes, before both fell in successive deliveries, their partnership being worth 35 in 4.4 overs.
Gomez's figures of two for 14 in four overs were exceptional, while left-armer Parameswaran (4-0-21-0) and Vinay (4-0-28-2) were both excellent as well.
Pratap went to the other extreme, conceding 44 runs in his four overs, although he did take one for seven in the 20th over.
A top-class half-century from Mahela Jayawardena and a sensational last-over assault by Brad Hodge had lifted the Kerala Tuskers to 156 for five.
A tidy Kolkata attack seemed to have things well under control almost throughout the innings and it took a knock of great class and skill by skipper Jayawardena to get Kerala as far as 134 for five after 19 overs.
But Hodge then launched a dazzling assault on fellow Australian Lee, hitting two sixes and two fours off alternate balls in a woeful final over that cost 22 runs as the fast bowler kept striving for the yorker but bowled half-volleys instead.
Kolkata had previously been in charge as they culled the top-order at regular intervals, left-arm paceman Jaidev Unadkat taking two for 25 and Pathan and Rajat Bhatia each claiming a wicket as well.
Lee had earlier bowled an inspired first over, after Kolkata had won the toss and chosen to bowl, that had Brendon McCullum in an absolute tangle.
The Kiwi fell in the second over as McCullum, who could manage just a single in eight balls, edged an awful short, wide delivery to Kallis at slip.
Parthiv Patel (21) made an impressive start as he blitzed four quick boundaries before being caught off an ambitious pull shot off Unadkat.
Michael Klinger and Jayawardena steadied the innings with a third-wicket stand of 51 off 40 balls, but the Tuskers could not afford to lose Klinger when they did, the Australian coming down the pitch to off-spinner Pathan and holing out at deep midwicket, where Iqbal Abdulla took a well-judged catch right on the boundary.
Ravindra Jadeja (8) soon exited, top-edging medium-pacer Bhatia to deep square-leg, but Jayawardena went on to an excellent half-century off 38 balls before being run out for 55 off 41 by Sarabjit Ladda's pinpoint throw to Kallis from long-off at the end of the penultimate over.
But Hodge, who finished with 35 not out off 19 balls, then provided the exceptional finish and a match-winning total for Kerala.
Fast bowler Unadkat was the pick of the attack, but Pathan did a fine job from the 12th over with one for 16 in three overs, while Kallis will be pleased with his continued progress in his comeback to bowling as he bowled three overs for 21.
Teams:
Kochi Tuskers Kerala: EJG Morgan, JH Kallis, G Gambhir*, YK Pathan, MK Tiwary, MV Boucher†, R Bhatia, Iqbal Abdulla, B Lee, S Ladda, JD Unadkat
Kolkata Knight Riders: M Klinger, BB McCullum, DPMD Jayawardene*, PA Patel†, BJ Hodge, RA Jadeja, RV Gomez, R Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, P Parameswaran
