Disciplined Kochi beat Kolkata by 6 runs

Kochi Tuskers Kerala won a battle of attrition against Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow Eden Gardens pitch that aided the spinners. The six-run win was their third on the trot and took them to third position in the points table. The wicket did not play as low as it did in Kolkata's win against Rajasthan Royals, but it was just as slow, making it difficult for batsmen, and a delight for the spinners.

 

Scorecard

 

After Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan had taken six wickets for 48 runs between them to restrict Kochi to 132, Kolkata's powerful batting line-up would have fancied the modest chase. But Kochi's own army of spinners - Muttiah Muralitharan, Ramesh Powar and Ravindra Jadeja - stifled the runs though they did not get as many wickets, and ensured the pressure got to the Kolkata batsmen.

Ironically, in a game dominated by spin, Kolkata paid the price for losing wickets to the fast bowlers at the start, whereas Kochi did not. Kolkata's seamers conceded 26 for 0 in their first three overs, while Kochi's fast bowlers dismissed Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir and conceded only 20 runs in the first four overs.

Kallis fell to the hook for the second time running; he had fallen to a top-edge against Rajasthan, he swung Vinay Kumar straight to deep square leg today. Gambhir played inside the line of an RP Singh full delivery that straightened and uprooted middle stump as Kolkata slipped to 27 for 2.

In the next over, Manvinder Bisla drove outside the line of a Jadeja delivery to lose his off stump. Manoj Tiwary and Eoin Morgan tried to work the ball around but the spinners were getting turn, and their different styles posed problems. Muralitharan, back after being left out for the previous two games, varied his flight and angle brilliantly, Jadeja fired the ball in, and Powar continued to flight it generously in a format where he should supposedly be an extinct commodity.

The mounting asking-rate led to Morgan charging out of his crease in the 13th over for a non-existent single and Jayawardene threw down the middle stump with a direct hit. Tiwary took on RP in the next over with consecutive boundaries, but Shakib missed a low full toss off the last ball to be bowled.

With 47 required from five overs, Jayawardene brought Powar back against Yusuf, who had come in lower down the order after having injured himself taking a catch earlier. It was a make-or-break move, and Yusuf duly deposited the second delivery he faced beyond the wide long-on boundary. It was either foolhardy or brave of Powar to flight the next ball from round the wicket. It turned out to be the latter, as Yusuf went hard at it and got a top edge to short third man.

It was all up to Tiwary now. He had batted intelligently, picking up the singles and finding the boundaries when the rate climbed. But Jadeja saw him charge out, and had him stumped off a wide delivery down the leg side.

Iqbal Abdulla and Rajat Bhatia refused to give up, taking 12 off RP's last over, the 19th. But 14 off the last over proved to be too much, and Vinay Kumar throttled them with a succession of slower deliveries as Kochi hung on to win by a slender margin.

This had seemed unlikely after Yusuf had showcased his skills with the ball as Kolkata's spinners restricted Kochi to 132. Gautam Gambhir had turned to spin after Brendon McCullum took Brett Lee for 15 runs in the third over. Right away, the left-arm spin of Abdulla and Shakib slowed the scoring-rate as both McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene struggled to break free.

The spinners soon smelled success when a Shakib delivery seemed to stop on McCullum, who looked to play a half-hearted cut only to edge it to point. The introduction of Yusuf in the eighth over brought more trouble for Kochi. Jayawardene, who had got away with a close leg-before shout earlier against Abdulla, was given out lbw while sweeping, even though replays showed he had gloved the ball onto the pad.

Yusuf struck in each of his next two overs. The slow nature of the pitch was further highlighted in Brad Hodge's dismissal; he was bowled off an inside edge after playing the pull too early. Yusuf then trapped Parthiv Patel leg-before with a quicker straight one. Having slipped from 49 without loss to 65 for 4, Kochi depended on Jadeja to take them to a fighting total.

The allrounder smacked sixes in each of the 13th, 14th and 15th overs but swung Lee straight to long-on on 29. Balaji and Lee ensured that Kochi didn't get away, but 132 turned out to be just enough in the end.