This match had everything – twists and turns, stunning fielding efforts, no-balls and some mighty blows – but it was the Kolkata Knight Riders that kept their juggernaut moving and marched into the semifinals of the Champions League T20.
The Knight Riders defeated the Perth Scorchers in a thriller by three wickets in Hyderabad on Wednesday, courtesy of a match-winning knock from Suryakumar Yadav. KKR registered their third win in the tournament and got one step closure of clinching their maiden CLT20 title.
At one point the Scorchers were cruising nicely but Yadav played a blistering innings to help his side pull off a stunning victory in the final over of the match. Yadav made a 19-ball 43, featuring four sixes and one boundary, and was instrumental in KKR’s win.
The Knight Riders won the game, with four balls to spare, despite not making any big partnerships and losing wickets on regular intervals. But, late assaults from Yusuf Pathan and Yadav helped them chased down a 152-run target.
Perth made a good start with the ball and got the wickets of dangerous Gautam Gambhir (6) and Jacques Kallis (6) pretty early. Robin Uthappa (23) tried to revive the innings but he failed to convert the start and got out.
The Scorchers bowled pretty well and whenever any KKR batsmen settled they managed to get a breakthrough. Pacer Yasir Arafat was the pick of the bowlers for Scorchers with three wickets, while Nathan Coulter-Nile took two.
Earlier, electing to bat first, Scorchers managed to post a respectable total thanks to an unbeaten half-century from skipper Adam Voges (71 not out). Voges anchored the Scorchers’ innings despite not getting any support from the other end.
Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav and off-spinner Sunil Narine ripped through Perth’s batting and finished with three and four wickets, respectively. Narine, in particular, maintained his good bowling form and never allowed the batsmen to get going. Yadav also bowled pretty well and got the better of top-order batsmen.
