Pune hit back to keep KKR to 150

Posted By Anoop Dubey

May 5,2012

It was an innings of two halves by Kolkata Knight Riders. An opening stand of 113 between Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum gave them the foundation to entertain thoughts of 200 and beyond, but the other batsmen batted as if on a different wicket and managed only 37 runs in the last 7.3 overs. Given Pune Warriors' previous game, where they failed to chase 120, the hosts could still fancy their chances.

The Warriors bowlers struggled initially on a slow pitch, often dropping too short or drifting on the pads, giving Knight Riders plenty of boundary opportunities. Gambhir began his innings by pulling a long hop off the left-arm spinner Murali Kartik in the first over, before clubbing Ashok Dinda for six.

The openers used their feet against the seamers, as illustrated by two sixes in the opening stand. McCullum welcomed Wayne Parnell by walking across his stumps and launching him over long-on, before Gambhir walked down the track and slogged a slower delivery from Dinda over deep midwicket. The pair ransacked 46 runs off three overs to end the Powerplay on an imposing 68 for no loss. It was also the third fifty-plus stand between the pair in the IPL

Sensing that the spinners would play a crucial role in containing the run-rate on this sluggish pitch, Ganguly brought on Clarke. The Australian was unlucky not to have McCullum on 28, when Dinda dropped a sitter at short fine-leg off a top edge. It was doubly embarrassing for Dinda as it happened in front of his 'home' crowd.

Gambhir milked the singles by dabbing the seamers to third man. There were no pressure tactics applied by Warriors till the tenth over, when the wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa stood up to the stumps to prevent the batsmen from using their feet. Gambhir continued coming down the track but he failed to launch Kartik over long-off, where he was caught by Mithun Manhas.