The thrills and frills associated with Twenty20 cricket were on display at the Eden on Sunday. Fortunes swung wildly before Sourav Ganguly clinched it the Kolkata Knight Riders’ way in the final over. Sourav Ganguly continued with his golden form in the tournament. A little more consistency could have changed Knight Riders’ fate in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Time for Dilip Vengsarkar and Co. to take a fresh look at some of the oldies! The past few days have been strenuous for the team for happenings on and off the field. Sourav chose the perfect way to keep the detractors at bay and end their campaign on a winning note. The three-wicket victory once again confirmed the side’s potential which has remained largely unfulfilled. The Knight Riders captain’s unbeaten 86 off 53 balls with six boundaries and six sixes sealed Kings XI Punjab’s fate. If Sourav provided the perfect finish with an unblemished innings, Man-of-the-Match Umar Gul will also share part of the credit. When Gul (24 off 11 balls) joined Sourav, 70 were needed of the last 30 balls. Forty nine runs came of the next 18 balls that turned the equation in the home team’s favour. Fifteen runs were needed of the last over and two sixes by Sourav off Irfan Pathan’s first two balls clinched the issue. The last rites of Kolkata Knight Riders campaign had been written long back. It was a matter of restoring some pride and they did it in style. Yuvraj Singh’s men have been on a roll. On Sunday they failed to live up to their reputation till the final overs. Shah Rukh Khan though missed it all after having decided to stay away from the action, for different reasons. The superstar did make an appearance at the Eden but left the ground before the start. The Badshah was not at hand to witness the nail biting finish but Preity Zinta cheered every run from the dugout. Korbo, lorbo, jeetbo re suddenly sprang to life as Sourav and Gul blasted away. The start was not that encouraging. Given the circumstances and past performances, it was assumed that Knight Riders would find it tough to overhaul the 175-run target. But all that was proved wrong. |
