It was Suryakumar Yadav’s turn to be the hero with the willow as he fashioned Kolkata Knight Riders’ march into the knockout phase with a three-wicket wicket win over Perth Scorchers in the Oppo Champions League T20 cricket championship at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Wednesday night.
When the big-hitting Yusuf Pathan departed at 125 for six in 17.3 overs, there was some hope for Perth Scorchers but when the flamboyant Suryakumar hit two huge sixes off Nathan Coulter-Nile in the 19th over, it all faded quickly.
The best part was he came up with all his four sixes just when the team badly needed to shift momentum. And when Piyush Chawla hit the winning boundary, it meant the third straight win for KKR and an entry into the semifinal.
The start was dismal with captain Gautam Gambhir slashing left-arm fast bowler Joel Paris straight to point in the second over.
Then Jacques Kallis whipped one from another left-armer Jason Behrendorff straight to short fine-leg in the third over. Soon, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey perished after looking good, reducing KKR to 67 for four in 10.4 overs.
Adam Voges shines Earlier, 34-year-old captain Adam Voges led from the front with a brilliant innings (71 not out, 52 balls, 8x4, 1x6) to help Perth Scorchers, electing to bat, post a respectable 151 for seven in 20 overs.
Batting right through the innings, his stroke selection was excellent but it was a pity that the lower-order fumbled badly when it mattered most.
Fellow-opener, southpaw Craig Simmons also looked good.
He essayed wonderful strokes on either side of the wicket and he seemed to be in a hurry and played with ease against the spin trio of Sunil Narine, left-armer Kuldeep Yadav and leggie Piyush Chawla.
Not surprisingly, Narine was too good to handle by the lower-order so much so that he took three wickets off his last seven balls conceding just six runs.
Scoreboard
Perth Scorchers : Adam Voges (not out) 71 (52b, 8x4, 1x6), Craig Simmons st Uthappa b Kuldeep 39 (30b, 6x4, 1x6), Mitchell Marsh st Uthappa b Kuldeep 4 (10b), Sam Whiteman c Suryakumar b Narine 21 (16b, 1x4, 1x6), Nathan Coulter-Nile c & b Kuldeep 0 (1b), Ashton Agar b Narine 4 (4b), Ashton Turner b Narine 0 (1b), Yasir Arafat c Gambhir b Narine 10 (6b, 1x4), Jason Behrendorff (not out) 0 (0b), Extras (w-2) 2; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs) 151.
Fall of wickets : 1-68 (Simmons), 2-81 (Marsh), 3-120 (Whiteman), 4-120 (Coulter-Nile), 5-132 (Agar), 6-132 (Turner), 7-150 (Arafat).
Kolkata Knight Riders bowling : Yusuf Pathan 4-0-22-0, Jacques Kallis 4-0-39-0, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-24-3, Sunil Narine 4-0-31-4, Piyush Chawla 4-0-35-0.
Kolkata Knight Riders : Robin Uthappa c Whiteman b Coulter-Nile 23 (18b, 4x4), Gautam Gambhir c Turner b Paris 2 (4b), Jacques Kallis c Simmons b Behrendorff 6 (7b, 1x4), Manish Pandey b Coulter-Nile 24 (23b, 3x4), Ryan ten Doeschate c Agar b Arafat 15 (21b, 1x4),Yusuf Pathan c Behrendorff b Arafat 21 (20b, 2x6), Suryakumar Yadav not out 43 (19b, 1x4, 4x6), Andre Russell b Arafat 4 (5b), Piyush Chawla not out 5 (2b, 1x4). Extras: (lb-3, nb-1, w-6) 10. Total: (for seven wickets in 19.4 overs) 153.
Fall of wickets : 1-6 (Gambhir), 2-13 (Kallis), 3-37 (Uthappa), 4-67(Pandey), 5-87 (ten Doeschate), 6-125 (Pathan), 7-147 (Russell).
Perth Scorchers bowling : Jason Behrendorff 4-0-28-1, Joel Paris 3-0-19-1, Coulter-Nile 4-0-41-2, Ashton Agar 1-0-4-0, Yasir Arafat 3.4-0-39-3, Brad Hogg 4-0-19-0.
Toss : Perth Scorchers
Man of the match : Kuldeep Yadav
