Gambhir, Kallis steer Kolkata to victory

Captain’s record 18th IPL half-century helps team beat Hyderabad by 48 runs.

Captain Gautam Gambhir’s impressive 53 and Jacques Kallis’ all-round performance helped Kolkata Knight Riders thrash Sunrisers Hyderabad by 48 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday.

Gambhir scored his 18th IPL half-century – now a record – helped by Eoin Morgan’s quickfire 47 to amass 180 for four in 20 overs.

In reply, Hyderabad struggled throughout their innings after getting off to a slow start. Openers Parthiv Patel and Cameron White failed to get any momentum going and succumbed under pressure, courtesy of some impressing bowling by the opposition.

Kallis was the chief tormentor finishing with bowling figures of three for 13 to restrict Hyderabad to 132 for seven in 20 overs. He scored 41 with the bat.

Hyderabad captain Kumar Sangakkara admitted his side was outplayed by the home team.

“We brought it back pretty well after the first six overs, but lost a bit of momentum,” he said, according to ESPNcricinfo. “We were outplayed by a better side on the day. If we had limited them to about 160, we would have had a better chance of reaching the target.

“We were never really in the chase from the start. We thought in the Powerplay, having White at the top would help him get a big one for us. We’ve got good hitting power but unfortunately for us, it didn’t work today.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2013.