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Kochi’s winning run continues on Kolkata turf

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KOLKATA: In tight finishes, it’s often tough to isolate one incident that impacts the outcome. But in the Kochi-Kolkata game, there was one. Yusuf Pathan had taken 3-20 which helped Kolkata restrict Kochi to 132-7. But he had injured his injured his ankle catching Ravindra Jadeja at long-on. Yusuf came in to bat with a runner. The equation was 47 off 30. Ramesh Powar had the ball.

Yusuf lofted a two over cover. He then blew one over midwicket for six. Powar didn’t take a backward step. He had the temerity to flight another one, inviting another big hit. Yusuf fell for it. He intended to play with the turn and send the ball over midwicket again. But there was no turn. The ball went straight taking the top edge to short third-man where Muttiah Muralitharan took an easy catch. Kolkata had deliveries and wickets left. But it was a slow wicket. It was game over.

It should have been a straightforward chase, but Kolkata kept losing wickets. Mahela Jayawardene’s proactive and energetic captaincy made the difference. Smart instructions to his bowlers on use of lengths, rotation of spinners, and a direct hit to send Eoin Morgan back made it the Kochi captain’s day. Jacques Kallis fell to a bouncer for the second straight time in the tournament when Vinay Kumar got him hooking to the man at deep square leg.

RP Singh then swung one out into Gautam Gambhir’s stumps to leave Kolkata at 27-2. Suddenly Kochi were back in the game. Wickets continued to tumble around Manoj Tiwary, who held on for 46. But Tiwary went an over after Yusuf’s fall the lower-order didn’t have it in them to defeat Kochi’s slow bowlers on this wicket.

Earlier in the day, Kolkata inserted Kochi. Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf took three wickets each. Ravindra Jadeja’s 29 with three sixes was the highest score of the innings. After being left out of the Indian team, and been banned from the last IPL, Jadeja has had a great time in this tournament. With 140 runs from 84 balls, his big-hitting and finishing skills have made a difference every time he’s gone out to bat. Today, he had Tiwary out stumped off a wide, sealing Kolkata’s fate.

This isn’t to say Kolkata were unimpressive today. Gambhir the batsman is one of the best players of spin around is well-known. But as he has shown in the few occasions he has led a top-level team, his mastery of spin also extends to his captaincy. When he captained India in the 5-0 win over New Zealand, Gambhir made a strike-force out of R Ashwin and part-timers Yusuf and Yuvraj Singh.

Gambhir works out angles to a nicety, plugs the singles, builds pressure, and then moves men in catching positions. The batsmen try to break free and invariably self-destruct by hitting the ball straight to a well-positioned fielder. In that New Zealand series, in five matches, Yusuf and Yuvraj took 13 wickets between them, apart from the 11 Ashwin took. The trend continues at the Knight Riders.

Yusuf has been Kolkata’s most consistent bowler with seven wickets in five matches, with an economy rate of 5.76. His attack has been boosted further by the arrival of Shakib Al Hasan, who can attack and defend with equal flair with his left-arm spin. They are backed up well by Iqbal Abdullah, who, despite his inexperience, has absorbed the pressures of top-level cricket well in taking five wickets with an above-average economy rate of 6.17.

On this day, however, Gambhir came second to Jayawardene.


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