Bangladeshi all-rounder Sakib al Hasan was the only successful bowler for Kolkata Knight Riders on a day that saw Rohit Sharma’s blistering knock of 109 get his side Mumbai Indians a 27-run victory at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
After sitting out the last seven matches, which they won, the world number one all-rounder finally got his place back in the KKR side at the expense of Brendon McCullum.
Sakib opened the bowling after they were put in to field first and bowled a tight first over giving away only one run.
Brett Lee from the other end gave away 12 runs in his first over, but that did not have any effect on Sakib as he kept his composure to bring his side the only breakthrough in the match by getting the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar (2).
Sakib’s tossed-up delivery turned a tad away from Tendulkar beating him by the spin and Manvinder Bisla, also coming back to the side, made no mistake in taking the bells off in a flash.
His first two overs went for just six runs, but runs kept flowing on as Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs tore the KKR bowlers apart. Sakib too received a hammering in his third over when Sharma hit him for two fours and a six.
KKR seamers gave away more than 10 runs an over while Sakib finished his quota of four overs with figures of 27-1. His spin partner Sunil Narine conceded 28 runs but was unable to provide them a breakthrough.
Sharma clobbered 12 fours and five sixes in his 60-ball whirlpool knock while Gibbs smashed seven boundaries and two sixes to score 66 from 58 balls as they piled up 182-1.
In reply, KKR were under pressure from the beginning when they lost their in-form skipper Gautam Ghambhir (0) in the first over and Bisla (1) in the second.
Jacques Kallis (75 not out) and Manoj Tiwary (27) built a partnership as they added 57 runs for the third wicket, but that was not enough as KKR were restricted to 155-3.
-With New Age input
