Gambhir-Kallis blitz blows Rajasthan away

Against Chennai, Gautam Gambhir held himself back, coming in late at No. 6 and making one run. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain showed greater sense today in coming one-down, hammering 75 (44b) to set up a nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.

It was the most brutal Gambhir innings in recent times. Coming in at the quick fall of Manvinder Bisla, the Kolkata captain launched an all-out attack on Rajasthan. He stepped out to loft Nayan Doshi for a six to get the innings going before taking four fours in an Amit Singh over. A 28-ball fifty was completed. At the other end, Jacques Kallis calmly collected 80 (65), his third fifty in a row in the tournament, to win back the Orange Cap.

Royals captain Shane Warne had no answer to this powerful build-up. Gambhir and Kallis added 152 unbeaten runs to finish off the chase. The nervousness that marked Kolkata's approach in previous games seems gone. Their dug-out seemed a happy place. With their second win, they've jumped into the top-four.

Earlier in the day, Kolkata elected to field here at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Rahul Dravid and Ashok Menaria built up Rajasthan nicely with a steady 52-run stand. Rajasthan had Ross Taylor and Shane Watson to follow. Yusuf Pathan bowled one over in which he dismissed Dravid and Menaria both.

Taylor (35 off 22b) and Watson (22 off 13b) brought out the big hits, but this was a flat wicket and 159-4 seemed under-par.

And here's a snippet from the match that stood out as a reminder that there's place for old school trickery in a game where spinners are prone to dart the ball into batsmen's pads.

In the 17th over by Shakib Al Hasan, Watson slog-swept a six. It was the second time Watson had sent Shakib over the ropes today. Shakib by now must have been sick of Watson. In the recently concluded ODI series between Australia and Bangladesh, Watson hit 20 sixes in three matches.

The Bangladesh captain's response to that six was another delivery in the same hitting area. It was a little flat but not quick through the air. Watson set himself up for another slog-sweep. But this time, the ball dipped, turned nicely past Watson's bat, and crashed into the stumps.

Shakib celebrated knowing exactly what he had pulled off. He could have fired in a fast ball and perhaps restricted Watson to a single. But he invited the big hit and took the wicket. It probably saved Kolkata about 20 runs. In the end, maybe this is why they won.

Kolkata Knight Riders 160 for 1 (Gambhir 75*, Kallis 80*) beat 

Rajasthan Royals 159 (Dravid 35, Taylor 35*) by nine wickets 

Kallis powers Kolkata to victory

It could be the overdose of cricket, or the absence of their adored hometown hero Sourav Ganguly, or just that it was a Monday night, whatever the reason, it was only a sparse crowd at Eden Gardens as Kolkata Knight Riders eased to victory in their first home game of the season. On a turning track where the ball kept low, Kolkata's batsmen all chipped in to put up the highest total of the tournament so far, which proved sufficient against Deccan Chargers.

Jacques Kallis provided another launchpad for the innings, with a controlled half-century filled with off-driven boundaries. He wasn't overly troubled by the new-ball attack of Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma, but the introduction of spin slowed the scoring as Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra teased the batsmen on a helpful pitch.

Kallis' opening partner Manvinder Bisla's scratchy stay ended soon after the fifty stand came up, as he missed a straighter one from Mishra. Kallis employed the sweep effectively against the spinners, and started to punish the part-time offerings of JP Duminy and Ravi Teja. A powerful swipe off Duminy got him to a second consecutive fifty, but he perished next ball as he attempted to clear midwicket again.

Gautam Gambhir, back in the familiar territory of No. 3 after batting down the order in the opening match, hardly needed power as he picked off boundaries behind square. Manoj Tiwary's batting was more muscular, slogging two big leg-side sixes in one Duminy over. Yusuf Pathan also provided the Kolkata fans something to cheer as he unleashed his brand of power-hitting to club three boundaries off Steyn's final two overs.

Mishra was the best of the Deccan bowlers, mixing in the googlies and sliders with his stock legspinner to trouble the Kolkata batting. Gambhir is widely reputed to be among the best players of spin in the country, and Mishra had the satisfaction of foxing him with a delivery that slid on to take middle stump. Mishra ended with 4-0-19-2 despite bowling two overs at the end of the innings.

The lack of pace in the Kolkata attack worked in their favour during the chase as the ball didn't come on to the bat, making it difficult for the Deccan batsmen to play their shots. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla squeezed the runs early on and he bowled Ishank Jaggi, attempting an awful slog after struggling to 3 off eight balls. Soon after, Eoin Morgan pulled off a stunning piece of fielding to send back Shikhar Dhawan - diving to stop the ball at covers, and rifling in a direct hit while still on his knees.

The Deccan batting depends heavily on their three overseas signings: Kumar Sangakkara, JP Duminy and Dan Christian. Sangakkara and Duminy fell cheaply, both providing catching practice to Kallis in the deep, and it was left to little-known Bharath Chipli who kept the Deccan challenge going initially with a series of boundaries. He too gave Kallis a simple catch, and with half the side dismissed and the asking rate around 13, there was too much for Christian to do. He unleashed a few big hits, but by that stage the biggest worry for Kolkata was the blow to Kallis' chin as he attempted yet another catch.