Knights exact their revenge at home

Kolkata, April 30

Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell struck belligerent fifties after veteran Brad Hogg's four-wicket haul to help Kolkata Knight Riders return to winning ways with a seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling Indian Premier League match here today.

Playing the formidable CSK for a second time in two days, KKR, who had lost by two runs chasing 135 in the first leg clash, had a stiffer target of 166 to chase at the Eden Gardens after skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and once again opted to field.

Chasing the target, KKR found themselves in a familiar position as they were reduced to 57 for three. But last season's top run-getter Uthappa finally came good to steer the chase with a 58-ball 80, his 14th IPL fifty and first in this season. He struck seven boundaries and one six during his knock.

Uthappa found a perfect ally in West Indian Russell who blasted 59 off 32 balls as the duo put together unconquered 112 runs off just 62 deliveries for the fourth wicket.

By virtue of this win, KKR (8 points) moved past RCB (7) to the third spot but CSK remained at the top with 12 points.

On a day when it was required for their batsmen to seize the momentum given by Hogg's incisive spell, their misery continued after Gambhir (19), Manish Pandey (3) and Suryakumar Yadav's (2) early dismissals.

Debutant Ronit More took an impressive catch on the edge of the third-man boundary to dismiss Gambhir off Mohit Sharma (1/22).

As KKR went into a shell and with the asking rate going up, Dhoni smartly brought in his inexperienced duo of Pawan Negi and More, who did not disappoint either by dismissing Pandey and Yadav respectively.

But Uthappa and Russell ensured that the packed house did not return disappointed.

Uthappa brought the crowd back on their feet when he slammed Ashish Nehra over his head and followed it up with two fours in the 15th over in which the veteran India seamer leaked 15 runs.

 Scoreboard

Chennai Super Kings

D Smith c ten Doeschate b Cummins 0

B McCullum lbw b Hogg 32

S Raina c Chawla b Yadav 8

du Plessis st Uthappa b Hogg 20

D Bravo b Russell 30

M Dhoni b Chawla 1

R Jadeja c Cummins b Hogg 24

P Negi b Hogg 27

M Sharma c Uthappa b Russell 0

A Nehra not out 1

R More not out 2

Extras (b 1, lb 13, w 6) 20

Total (9 wickets; 20 overs) 165

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-43, 3-64, 4-69, 5-72, 6-129, 7-154, 8-160, 9-160 

Kolkata Knight Riders

R Uthappa not out 80

G Gambhir c More b M Sharma 19

M Pandey c Jadeja b Negi 3

S Yadav c Bravo b More 2

A Russell not out 59

Extras (lb 1, w 5) 6 

Total (3 wickets; 19.5 overs) 169 

Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-54, 3-57 

Bowling 

M Sharma 4-0-22-1

A Nehra 4-0-36-0

P Negi 4-0-23-1

R More 3.5-0-35-1

R Jadeja 2-0-25-0

D Bravo 2-0-27-0

MoM: Andre Russell

Bowling

P Cummins 4-0-54-1

U Yadav 2-0-16-1

P Chawla 4-0-21-1

B Hogg 4-0-29-4

Y Pathan 2-0-11-0

A Russell 4-0-20-2