Cuttack, Apr 23: Kolkata Knight Riders jumped to third place in the points table after recording a five-wicket win over Deccan Chargers in a rain-affected low-scoring Indian Premier League match, here yesterday.
Kolkata bowlers did a splendid job in helpful conditions as they restricted Deccan to a modest 126 for seven after winning the toss with L Balaji (2/22) and Sunil Narine (2/26) scalping two wickets each.
Paceman Brett Lee, though, was the most impressive Kolkata bowler as he conceded just 15 runs in his four overs. He bowled 15 dot balls and also effected one dismissal.
Shikhar Dhawan (50) was top scorer for Deccan as he scored a run-a-ball knock while the other batsmen were guilty of playing reckless shots.
Kolkata overhauled the target with six balls to spare and had to work hard for runs as Deccan put up a good resistance.
It was Deccan's fifth defeat in a row and they are yet to win a contest in this edition of the league.
Batsmen needed to apply themselves to get runs on the Barabati track, where the ball was not coming on to the bat. The match had started late by an hour due to rain.
Kolkata (Ʈ.432) now have eight points, same as of Pune Warriors (Ʈ.290) and Chennai Super Kings (Ʈ.033), but are positioned ahead of them due to better Net Run Rate.
In all, five teams have eight points, with Rajasthan Royals (Ʈ.547) standing at the second place behind Delhi Daredevils. Delhi (Ʈ.681) have played six matches to seven of all other teams, who have eight points.
South African all-rounder Jaques Kallis (23) and Manoj Tiwary (30 not out) shared an important 33-run stand for the fifth wicket as they had joined hands when Kolkata were 72 for four in 11th over and Deccan had started building pressure.
Kallis' knock came off 24 balls while Tiwary faced 28 balls for his innings, containing jusy two boundaries.
Steyn raised his side's hopes by having Kallis caught behind in the 17th over. The equation at that time Kolkata needing 22 off 22 balls. Tiwary though held his nerves and saw his side home in company of Debabrata Das (9).
