By IANS,
Kolkata : Kolkata Knight Riders scored a respectable 129 for seven against Bangalore Royal Challengers in a rain-curtailed match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens here Thursday night.
Opting to bat in a 16-over-per-side match, Knight Riders’ top order once again faltered and their innings never really took off. A changed opening combination of Akash Chopra (2) and Brad Hodge (10) failed to provide the hosts a solid start.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly (20 off 22 balls) and David Hussey (26 off 12) tried to resurrect the Knight Riders’ innings and shared a 26-run stand for the fourth wicket, but two crucial runouts and some disciplined field work from the Royal Challengers led to their downfall.
However, Knight Riders’ lower middle order saved them the blushes. Debutant Tatenda Taibu (15), Laxmi Ratan Shukla (11), Wriddhiman Saha (unbeaten 17) and Murali Karthik (17) made some valuable contributions down the order to set a challenging target.
Dale Steyn was the pick of the bowlers for Royal Challengers, with three wickets for 27 runs, while Zaheer Khan (27/1) and Praveen Kumar (36/1) were the other wicket takers.