Kolkata: Iqbal Abdulla (3-24) and Rajat Bhatia (2-29) shared five Deccan Chargers top-order wickets to help Kolkata Knight Riders register 9-run victory in their Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens on Monday.
Rajat Bhatia dismissed in-form Bharat Chipli (48) in the fourteenth over soon after Iqbal Abdulla scalped JP Duminy (6) in the previous over. Chipli hit a six and six fours in his 40-ball innings to lead the Chargers run-chase. Bhatia dismissed Deccan skipper Kumar Sangakkara (16) to halt the resurrection of Chargers run-chase in the ninth over.
Chargers lost Shikhar Dhawan (7) to Eoin Morgan's great throw soon after Iqbal Abdulla dismissed Ishant Jaggi (3) in the previous over to give KKR an early breakthrough.
Aggressive batting by their top-order batsmen helped Knight Riders post 163/4 against Deccan Chargers, which is the highest total of the league's fourth edition so far.
Manoj Tiwary remained unbeaten on 30 off 21 balls as he hit two huge sixes and two fours. Yusuf Pathan failed to clear the inside circle on the last ball of their innings but not before he smashed four boundaries in his 15-ball 22 knock.
Amit Mishra dismissed Gambhir after the southpaw added 43-run for third wicket with Manoj Tiwary. Gambhir hit four boundaries in his 18-ball 29 cameo.
JP Duminy got rid of his national teammate Jacques Kallis (53) soon after the batsman hit a six in previous delivery to score a quick-fire fifty. Kallis smashed seven boundaries and a six in his 45-ball knock.
Deccan spinner Amit Mishra struck in the ninth over to break the Riders' opening 51-run stand between Manvinder Bisla and Jacques Kallis.
Bisla played sensible knock as he supported senior partner Kallis well by scoring 19 runs off 21 balls. Bisla hit three boundaries in his innings.
For Deccan, Amit Mishra was the pick of the bowlers as he took two crucial wickets of Bisla and Gambhir and conceded just 19 runs in his four overs.
Earlier, Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and decided to bat against Deccan Chargers at Eden.
Knight Riders made two changes in the team as they bring in Ryan ten Doeschate for Laxmi Shukla and Jaidev Unadkat for leg-spinner Sarabjit Ladda. Netherlands' World Cup star Doeschate is making his IPL debut.
Smarting from their opening round loses, Knight Riders and Chargers are hoping to bring their campaign back on track at Eden.
