Deccan Chargers beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets

Chasing a meager total of 101 runs, Deccan Chargers lost two wickets of - Adam Gilchrist and VVS Laxman against Kolkata Knight Riders in Cape Town.

Gilchrist made 13 runs when he was removed by Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Gilly wanted to pull it over the midwicket but failed to connect it properly. Moises Henriques, at square-leg, took a couple of steps back to catch it cleanly.

Number 3 batsman Laxman made 10 runs with the help of a six. He was caught napping between the wickets and perished to a throw from Ashok Dinda.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders put up a very disappointing batting performance in their IPL opener against Deccan Chargers and were bundled for just 101 runs.

Some disciplined bowling from the Hyderabad bowlers - especially RP Singh - not only choked the run flow but also saw Kolkata wickets tumbling regularly.

It was literally a nightmarish situation for the Knight Riders as none of their high-profile players could find their feet on the ground. RP Singh took four wickets, while Pragyan Ojha and Scott Styris picked two apiece. Rookie pacer Harmeet Singh took one.

Electing to bat first, Knight Riders got the first jolt when RP Singh removed McCullum for 1 run in his first over. A swinging delivery going towards the leg side kissed the gloves of the newly appointed KKR captain before landing in the gloves of Adam Gilchrist.

Chris Gayle (10), who was looking to take on the Chargers, made his intentions clear when he smacked RP for a massive six. But RP made a great comeback the very next ball and took his wicket. A fuller delivery compelled the Caribbean batsman to lunge forward. He played a lofted shot and Harmeet Singh took a good running catch at midwicket.

After these two fall of wickets, all eyes were on former captain Sourav Ganguly but he too disappointed. He could make only 1 run in 12 balls and fell to rookie pacer Harmeet Singh. A fuller delivery that was pitched outside the off-stump lured the southpaw. He tried to steer it through covers but the ball took a thick edge and went to VVS Laxman at first slip.

India discard Aakash Chopra tried to consolidate but failed miserably. He made 11 runs when an Ojha-delivery foxed him completely. A ball tossed short on the off and middle lured him to come forward but the ball sneaked through and Adam Gilchrist cleaned the bails. Laxmi Ratan Shukla met the similar fate but he was done in by the flight. He made 8 runs.

Styris proved his utility as an all-rounder and picked two wickets of Brad Hodge and Moises Henriques. Hodge, who looked to take KKR out of trouble, made 31 runs with the help of four boundaries. He was caught by Herchelle Gibbs at covers off Styris. Henriques fell in the similar fashion, only to be caught by Rohit Sharma at point for 6 runs. Ajit Agarkar made seven runs when he was caught short of his crease by Rohit.

RP wrapped the KKR batting with the twin wickets of Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda in the same over.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Ravi Teja, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Venugopal Rao, Scott Styris, Pragyan Ojha, RP Singh, Harmeet Singh, Fidel Edwards.

Knight Riders: Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Sourav Ganguly, Brad Hodge, Aakash Chopra, MC Henriques, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ajit Agarkar, Ishant Sharma, Murali Kartik, Ashok Dinda.

Credits: NDTVCricket