Propelled by Callum Ferguson's unconquered 70, the South Australian Redbacks piled up an imposing 188 and restricted the Kolkata Knight Riders' response to 169 for nine at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Tuesday night.
The calm confidence shown by the Antipodean side's vice-captain on the contest's eve wasn't far-fetched as he led by example, cutting the Knight Riders' attack to ribbons in a 40-ball essay, embellished with four big hits and four boundaries, which wrenched the contest away from the Kolkata squad.
The Redbacks chose to bat, replacing Shaun Tait and Adil Rashid with Gary Putland and Kane Richardson against the unchanged Knight Riders. Openers Michale Klinger and Daniel Harris seemed well on their way until birthday boy L. Balaji brought about the breakthrough. The India discard squeezed out a miscued hit from Harris, which was duly held by Iqbal Abdulla trotting to mid-off.
Costly miss
Skipper Klinger's run out was followed by Cameron Borgas' pull getting picked up by Balaji at mid-wicket. Ferguson enjoyed a reprieve on 18, when Jacques Kallis, reputed the world over for his safe pair of hands, grassed a chance. That lapse would prove costly as Ferguson opened the blade of his bat, grew in confidence and kept the run-meter rolling.
The spinning set of Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan and Iqbal Abdulla slammed the brakes on the Redbacks' run-rate briefly before Ferguson, subsequently adjudged man of the match, drove Pathan to and over the sigh-screen, bolstering that with two more boundaries to backward of square and long leg. Dan Christian followed suit, hoisting Hasan over long on shortly after meting out the same treatment to Abdulla over mid-wicket.
Brett Lee seemed a pale shadow of his past self and prowess as Christian took his time, went down on his knee, swept his compatriot for a four and then cut him with as much contempt. Ferguson was equally irreverent, notching up his half-century by smiting the once-dreaded quick into the sight-screen on the full and against the pace.
Lee's caught and bowled dismissal of Tom Cooper proved no consolation as Ferguson again carted him into the galleries behind mid-wicket, signing off the Redbacks innings with a six, his fourth, over long on.
Opening the bowling with Nathan Lyon proved counter-productive initially for the Redbacks as the offie conceded a dozen but later made amends by scalping Gautam Gambhir. Just when it seemed it a smart move to have sent Shakib Al Hasan up the order, the southpaw patted Gary Putland to Ferguson at backward of point.
Switching to the speedsters and shuffling their ends landed the spoils for the Redbacks, accounting for almost all of the top and middle order. The Aussie outfit, also known as the Westend Redbacks, turned out to be fitter and faster on the field when seen against the sloppy show by the Knight Riders.
Manoj Tiwary's 40 and a tenacious 32 from Ryan ten Doeschate, surprisingly sent in at No. 7, were the only pockets of resistance the Redbacks encountered. Iqbal Abdulla's unbeaten 10 off two deliveries and Rajat Bhatia's 21, containing a boundary and a six came as the lash in the tail but by then the contest was too far gone for the Knight Riders.
The scores:
South Australian Redbacks: M. Klinger (run out) 20 (18b, 2x4), D. Harris c Abdulla b Balaji 26 (19b, 2x4, 2x6), C. Ferguson (not out) 70 (40b, 5x4, 4x6), C. Borgas c Balaji b Yusuf 14 (13b, 2x4), D. Christian c Tiwary b Balaji 42 (27b, 4x4, 2x6), T. Cooper c & b Lee 1 (2b), T. Ludeman (not out) 0 (1b); Extras (b-2, lb-4, w-9): 15; Total (for five wickets, in 20 overs): 188.
Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-51, 3-77, 4-161, 5-174.
KKR bowling: Lee 4-0-42-1, Abdulla 4-0-37-0, Yusuf 4-0-43-1, Balaji 3-0-27-2, Shakib 4-0-23-0, Bhatia 1-0-10-0.
Kolkata Knight Riders: M. Bisla b Richardson 13 (11b, 3x4), J. Kallis c & b Harris 20 (19b, 2x4), Shakib c Ferguson b Putland 13 (11b, 1x4, 1x6), G. Gambhir c Klinger b Lyon 9 (9b, 2x4), M. Tiwary c Christian b Richardson 40 (31b, 2x4, 2x6), Yusuf c O'Brien b Putland 5 (8b), R. ten Doeschate c Borgas b Harris 32 (16b, 3x4, 2x6), R. Bhatia c Ferguson b Putland 21 (13b, 1x4, 2x6), B. Lee b Harris 0 (1b), I. Abdulla (not out) 10 (2b, 1x4, 1x6); Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-2, nb-1): 6; Total (for nine wickets, in 20 overs): 169.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-37, 3-46, 4-81, 5-102, 6-104, 7-142, 8-143, 9-169.
SAR bowling: Lyon 2-0-17-1, Richardson 4-0-29-2, Putland 4-0-31-3, Christian 4-0-34-0, O'Brien 2-0-13-0, Harris 4-0-42-3.
