Kolkata knight rider, CSK come face to face for first time in IPL 5

Chennai, Apr 29: A cracker of a contest is on the cards when in-form Kolkata Knight Riders take on faltering defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their 10th preliminary league match of the IPL here tomorrow.Both the teams are meeting this season for the first time and the Gautam Gambhir-led KKR hold the advantage after having won five of their nine matches so far.Comparatively, Chennai are faltering because of their batting woes and lost by seven runs to tournament laggards Kings XI Punjab yesterday.

Gambhir has been leading from the front and his batting this season in particular has been spectacular. The manner in which he tamed the Royal Challengers Bangalore at home yesterday with a 51-ball 93 was intimidating sight for any opposition bowler.

Same cannot be said about CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been under the mat for months now. His personal contribution with the bat for both the national side and now for the Super Kings has been below par.

Dhoni has failed miserably so far aggregating 132 in eight innings with a high of 40 as compared to Gambhir’s 302 from eight innings with a highest of 93.

Yesterday’s loss to Kings XI Punjab was a classic example of the hosts failure to overcome pressure despite openers Faf Du Plessies and S Badrinath setting the base scoring at over nine in the first six overs.

With the wicket being slow and low, it is not possible for KKR to repeat their feat of posting high totals but the in-form batsmen under Gambhir have proven records to their credit to stitch good partnerships.

Gambhir misses century but stars in Kolkata's big win

Kolkata, Apr 29: Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from front with a rollicking 93 as Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 47 runs in their Indian Premier League match, here today.Gambhir bulldozed the Bangalore bowling with his blazing 51-ball knock as Kolkata posted an imposing 190 for four, their highest total of the season, and then restricted Bangalore to 143 for six.Apart from Gambhir, Brendon McCullum (43 off 37) and Jacques Kallis (41 off 27) contributed in their huge score.

Gambhir played some breath-taking shots in his innings, which was studded with five huge sixes and nine fours.

Bangalore wilted under pressure of big chase and lost three top-order batsman inside six overs. They just played a catch job from there on with Chris Gayle holding one end.

Gayle was top scorer for Bangalore with his 86 off 58 balls but his fiery knock came too late. His knock was adorned with six sixes and seven fours.

Had fellow West Indian Sunil Narine not dropped Gayle in the third over, the visitors could have suffered worse defeat. Gayle was on 12 at that time.

With this win Kolkata stay on second position in the points table behind Delhi Daredevils but now have 11 points, two better than Chennai Super Kings and RCB.

Bangalore needed a good start by they lost Tillakaratane Dilshan (1), Virat Kohli (18) and AB de villiers (0) in a hurry and were ousted from the game.

Earlier, everything went right for Kolkata, from winning the toss to a good start and then a good finish.

Gambhir and Brendon McCullum put on 95 runs for the opening wicket, their highest first-wicket stand of the season, to lay foundation of a big score. Gambhir also added 80 with Kallis for the second wicket.