Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL title defence came to an end as it messed up its chase against Pune Warriors India at the JSCA International Stadium here on Wednesday.
After nine successive defeats, Pune Warriors put up a greatly improved batting display to score 170 for four and held on to it to stop the defending champion seven runs short.
Yusuf Pathan and Ryan ten Doeschate almost took Knight Riders to victory, figuring in a 98-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Their combination brought KKR out of the woods, having lost three wickets with just 29 runs on board.
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However, both batsmen returned to the pavilion making silly errors. Pathan showed more aggression as he went past his previous best of 49 not out — against Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens on May 3 — to score 72.
ten Doeschate (42) provided able assistance, but his patience snapped in the 16th over when he went for a run that was not on and in the process ended an outstanding partnership.
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Pathan dashed KKR’s hopes completely, doing something that does not have a parallel in IPL history.
The batsman was asked to return to the dugout for obstructing the field.
He appeared to have wilfully kicked the ball as the bowler — Wayne Parnell — was about to collect it on his follow-through. Thus a fine innings came to a disgraceful end.
Robin Uthappa (25) and captain Aaron Finch gave Pune Warriors a good start, taking KKR medium-pacers Lakshmipathy Balaji and Jacques Kallis to task.
Manish Pandey and Yuvraj Singh did well with some late aggression to get PWI to 170 — one of its best efforts in the tournament.
After Uthappa’s dismissal, Finch and Pandey ignited the galleries landing some lofted pulls in the stands.
Pandey took on the yoke of hauling the visitors’ innings as he anchored two fine partnerships of 56 and 65 runs with Finch (48) and Yuvraj Singh (30) for the second and third wickets.
Pandey played some well-improvised shots to come up with his best effort — 66 (47b, 8x4, 1x6) — of the tournament.
He was ably complemented by Yuvraj, who showed glimpses of his former self with some prodigious hitting to take the PWI score to respectability.
Scoreboard:
Pune Warriors India: Robin Uthappa b Senanayake 25 (21, 1x4, 2x6), Aaron Finch b Balaji 48 (32b, 2x4, 3x6), Manish Pandey (run out) 66 (47b, 8x4, 1x6), Yuvraj Singh c ten Doeschate b Kallis 30 (20b, 3x6), Luke Wright (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (w-1): 1;Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 170.
Fall of wickets: 1-41 (Uthappa), 2-97 (Finch), 3-162 (Pandey), 4-170 (Yuvraj).
Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Lakshmipathy Balaji 4-0-41-1, Sachithra Senanayake 4-0-22-1, Sunil Narine 4-0-26-0, Jacques Kallis 4-0-48-1, Rajat Bhatia 3-0-26-0, Ryan ten Doeschate 1-0-7-0.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir c Yuvraj b I. Pandey 12 (17b, 1x4), Manvinder Bisla lbw b Parnell 1 (4b), Jacques Kallis b Parnell 1 (7b), Yusuf Pathan (obstructing the field) 72 (44b, 8x4, 2x6), Ryan ten Doeschate (run out) 42 (30b, 4x4, 1x6), Manoj Tiwary c M. Pandey b Kumar 0 (2b), Debabrata Das (not out) 8 (6b, 1x4), Rajat Bhatia (run out) 10 (9b, 1x4), Sachithra Senanayake (not out) 2 (1b); Extras (lb-4, w-11): 15; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 163.
Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Bisla), 2-25 (Kallis), 3-29 (Gambhir), 4-127 (ten Doeschate), 5-128 (Tiwary), 6-148 (Pathan), 7-160 (Bhatia).
Pune Warriors India bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-22-1, Wayne Parnell 4-0-34-2, Ishwar Pandey 2-0-17-1, Angelo Mathews 3-0-25-0, Ali Murtaza 4-0-34-0, Yuvraj Singh 1-0-11-0, Luke Wright 1-0-11-0, Raiphi Gomez 1-0-5-0.
Man-of-the-match: M. Pandey.