Disciplined Kochi beats Kolkata by 17 runs

May 05, 2011 03:50 pm | Updated May 06, 2011 12:12 am IST - Kochi

A man-of-the-match performance with the bat from Brad Hodge helped Kochi beat Kolkata by 17 runs in an IPL league game in Kochi on Thursday.

A man-of-the-match performance with the bat from Brad Hodge helped Kochi beat Kolkata by 17 runs in an IPL league game in Kochi on Thursday.

A couple of months ago, when Kochi Tuskers began hunting for local boys to give the side a much-needed Kerala look, not many thought anybody, apart from Sreesanth, from the State would make it to the team's playing eleven in the IPL.

But a little after the halfway mark in the tournament, the State's players have come up with some stunning performances for the Tuskers.

After left-arm pace-man Prasanth Parameswaran lifted the team with a match-winning spell in his debut game against Delhi the other day, another Kerala medium-pacer Raiphi Vincent Gomez handed the crucial breaks as Tuskers Kerala shocked fancied Kolkata Knight Riders by 17 runs in a DLF-IPL match at the Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.

Mahela Jayawardene, with an authoritative half-century, and Brad Hodge, with an explosive unbeaten 35 (19 balls) that brought him the man-of-the-match award, had earlier carried the Tuskers to a challenging 156 for five.

Knight Riders, which was at the top of the ten-team table on Wednesday evening, began the chase without much of a hitch with Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan putting up a 69-run opening stand.

But the match turned sharply in the 11th over with Raiphy taking the wickets of South African Jacques Kallis and captain Gautam Gambhir — the team's top two run-getters this season — off successive deliveries.

The Kerala Ranji captain removed Kallis with a slow leg-cutter that kicked his off-stump and then had Gambhir, attempting an extra cover drive, offering a catch to Jayawardene. When Vinay Kumar got Manoj Tiwary a little later, Kochi smelt victory.

Dramatic

The last two overs were dramatic. Morgan, who appeared to be growing in confidence after making a 51-ball 66, was run out and a ball later, the dangerous Yusuf Pathan, going for a big one, handed Jayawardene a catch at extra cover.

A little later, Kochi celebrated its second victory over the Knight Riders this season. The memorable win carried the host to the fifth spot with 10 points while Kolkata is on the second rung with 12.

Earlier, Hodge's last-over fireworks lit up the stadium. Kochi looked like it could manage only about 140, after it suffered two early blows, but the Australian brought 22 valuable runs at the end that made the total a challenging one.

Mahela was his usual self and his assuring presence saw to it that the team did not buckle down under pressure.

Unadkat strikes

Jaidev Unadkat, the baby of the Knight Riders team at 19 years, gave Kolkata the big break, taking the wickets of explosive opener Brendon McCullum and Parthiv Patel.

The left-arm medium pacer had McCullum slashing at a rather widish delivery only to see it floating into the safe hands of Jacques Kallis at slips.

Parthiv was in a punishing mood, belting the seasoned Brett Lee for two consecutive fours in the third over. But he fell in the sixth over as he stepped down the track and attempted to swing Unadkat over midwicket. Ranjit Bhatia ran back to take the mishit on his third attempt.

Kochi made 35 from the first six overs, when the field restrictions were in place. And just when the home side began to worry with the fall of Patel, Jayawardene came out with an innings of that helped the Tuskers settle down.

Good shots

The captain opened up nicely in the eighth over, charging down the track and sending leg-spinner Sarabjit Ladda, who came in for medium-pacer L. Balaji, for a huge six over extra cover. It was the first six of the match.

He was at it again a few overs later, carting medium-pacer Rajat Bhatia over the long-leg ropes. Jayawardene completed a half century and a little later crossed 1000 runs in the event.

After he was run out, Brad Hodge took control. He belted the Lee for two monstrous sixes apart from two boundaries in the last over.

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