Hyderabad, Sep 19: Despite posting a modest 121, Kolkata Knight Riders won their opening Nokia CLT20 fixture against Auckland Aces by restricting the Kiwi side to 119 for 6.
It should have been a simple run chase, but they lost Martin Guptill to a horrible mix-up off the very first ball of their innings. But the Aces were back on track with a 60-run partnership between opener Jimmy Adams and Lou Vincent. The latter was especially severe on the KKR bowlers, slamming six boundaries and a six in his 37-ball 40.
However, when Vincent was run out in the 9th over, it opened up the flood gates and Auckland Aces slipped from 60 for 1 to 77 for 5 in the space of four overs. Then Colin Munro came in and steadied the ship with a 20-run knock. But his dismissal in the 19th over meant the match swung back in KKR's favour.
When Andre Adams walked out to bat at the fall of Munro’s wicket, Auckland were left needing to score 22 off 11 balls. That equation changed to 11 runs off the last over after Adams had hit a six off the first ball he faced. Brett Lee bowled a magnificent last over – mixing yorkers with low full tosses – sealing victory for the Knight Riders. Adams and Mills could only manage 8 runs off the final over as Aces fell two runs short.
Earlier in the day, KKR captain Jacques Kallis won the toss and chose to bat first on a slow track. KKR raced away to 46 in the first six overs, with opener Manvinder Bisla doing most of the scoring, while Kallis remained a passive partner at the other end.
Bisla was fluent on both sides of the wicket – driving through the off and pulling through the leg side – and scored 45 off 32 balls (7 fours, 1 six) before driving a low full toss from Michael Bates straight to Martin Guptill at cover. Yusuf Pathan came in at number three, but struggled to 12 runs from 17 balls and hit one boundary before he failed to make contact attempting an ugly swipe and lost his stumps.
From 93 for 2 when Pathan was dismissed, KKR plummeted to 106 for 6 – losing five wickets for 13 runs. KKR scored 121 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs. Bates was the most impressive of the Auckland Aces bowlers with figures of one for 13 runs in his four overs.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 121 for 6 (Manvinder Bisla 45, Jacques Kallis 33, Kyle Mills 2-24) beat Auckland Aces 119/6 (Lou Vincent 40, Colin Munro 20, Yusuf Pathan 2-21) by two runs.
Man of the Match: Manvinder Bisla for his 32-ball 45 which included 7 fours and a six.
