agency
MOHALI: Robin Uthappa smashed his way to the third fastest half century of the season as Kolkata Knight Riders notched up a comfortable six-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League here tonight.
Put into bat, Kings XI Punjab were restricted to 138 for eight in the stipulated 20 overs at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium.
Led by Uthappa’s blazing knock of 53 off 28 balls, the visitors chased down the target of 139 with 17 balls to spare. KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir continued to lead the team well, scoring 34 off as many deliveries.
Uthappa reached his 50 off 24 balls, before leg-spinner Pradeep Sahu had him trapped in front of wicket to end a fluent opening wicket partnership of 82 runs in just under nine overs. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who had held catches and whose fastest IPL fifty came off 19 balls in 2010 when he played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, tonight struck nine boundaries during his breezy knock. By the time Uthappa was heading back to the dugout, half the job was done for KKR, who were 93 for one midway into their chase. Yusuf Pathan (12) and Suryakumar Yadav (11) were at the crease when victory was achieved, which took KKR to the top of the points table. (PTI)
score board
Kings XI Punjab innings
M Vijay b Chawla 26
M Vohra c Shakib Al Hasan b Morkel 08
SE Marsh not out 56
WP Saha† c †Uthappa b Narine 08
DA Miller* c †Uthappa b Pathan 06
GJ Maxwell c Chawla b Narine 04
AR Patel c SA Yadav b UT Yadav 09
MM Sharma c †Uthappa b Morkel 01
P Sahu run out (Russell/†Uthappa) 01
KJ Abbott not out 12
Extras 07
Total 138/8
Kolkata Knight Riders innings
RV Uthappa† lbw b Sahu 53
G Gambhir* c Maxwell b Sahu 34
MK Pandey b Patel 12
Shakib Al Hasan c Sandeep Sharma b Patel 11
SA Yadav not out 11
YK Pathan not out 12
Extras 08
Total 141/4
