Kochi stifle Kolkata in hard-fought win
Kochi Tuskers Kerala won a battle of attrition against Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow Eden Gardens pitch that aided the spinners, in the process moving third position in the points table
Kochi Tuskers Kerala won a battle of attrition against Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow Eden Gardens pitch that aided the spinners, in the process moving third position in the points table
Scorer: S Balasubramanian | Commentator: George Binoy
Kolkata have lost a game after winning three on the trot. Kochi have now won three in a row. Jayawardene said at the toss that 130-140 would be a defendable score. His team got 132 and they won by six runs. He read the game perfectly.
"Kochi have become the giant killers, after MI and CSK now they beat in-form KKR. They have conquered 3 of the 4 metro cities too!" says Bhavish.
"I find this game far more interesting than the usual run-fests. Great pitch!" says Harry.
Gambhir: "We should have chased that target easily. The wicket was playing better than it did in the last game. Credit to Kochi. The way their bowlers bowled. We were disappointing, not up to the mark ... Nothing serious with Yusuf's injury, he should be OK for the next game."
The Man of the Match is Mahela Jayawardene: "I thought it was going to be a scrappy game, 130 was a competitive score. We missed out on about 15 runs, we batted really well. The bowlers performed under pressure, the fielding was outstanding ... Our quicks had the variation, knew I could use them at the end of the game. We took early wickets, guys like Gambhir and Kallis can hurt you. I had quality at the end as well."
Thank you for all your emails. That's all we have for you today. The IPL rolls on tomorrow and so will we. See you then. Cheers.
R Bhatia run out 10 (8b 1x4 0x6) SR: 125
"What accuracy from Mahela to predict 130 as the par score at the beginning. Prove to be a winning score. Great cricketing brain!" says Randy. It's almost a winning score.
Superb use of slower balls against a batsman who isn't adept at improvising and adapting.
Will Vinay bowl another slower one? Abdulla must be expecting it now.
Kolkata need 14 off the final over and Vinay Kumar will bowl it.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala won a battle of attrition against Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow Eden Gardens pitch that aided the spinners, in the process moving third position in the points table
ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kochi Tuskers at Eden Gardens