SRK’s Knight Riders beat Deccan Chargers by 5 wkts

In the end, it was the Bollywood Badshah who had the last laugh, but not before some heart-in-the-mouth moments. The tenacious Australian Hussey proved his mettle when it mattered most, smashing a six, a four, and another six to see Knight Riders through to a five-wicket win with six balls to spare. Deccan Chargers had fought hard on a devil of a pitch, thanks largely to heroic bowling efforts from Chaminda Vaas (2/9), RP Singh (1/15) and Pragyan Ojha (2/18), but came up just short.

In stark contrast to the IPL’s tournament opener in Bangalore, here was one low-scoring match on a nightmare of a pitch. Luckily, though, it threw up the most thrilling contest of the tournament as yet.

When he opted to bat first, Laxman would not have anticipated just what his batsmen were up against. The Knight Riders bowling attack made the most of a two-paced Eden Gardens wicket by sticking to line and length, and the Chargers’s big-named batting line-up failed to click. Venugopal Rao was the first to fall, perishing off Ishant after mishiting a cheeky square nudge. Laxman walked in amidst deafening roars, but failed to ignite, returning for a duck after lobbing a catch off a straightening Shukla delivery.

For a brief while, it appeared that Adam Gilchrist had taken stock of the situation, pummeling Ajit Agarkar for two lusty sixes and a racy four in the sixth over. But he flattered to deceive, holing out in the deep off the Murali Kartik. After Gilchrist’s departure at 47/3, the hosts caught Laxman & Co by the scruff of the neck. As a restrained Andrew Symonds helplessly looked on from the non-striker’s end, wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

Kartik emerged as the best pick, finishing with 3/17, Ishant produced yet another gem, conceding just 9 runs off 3 overs. But the chase of just 111 also proved too thrilling as the home team stalwarts, Sourav Ganguly (14) and Ricky Ponting (0), failed to make their presence felt.