KKR thump RR

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets under a tailor-made Eden conditions here today to keep their hopes afloat in the Pepsi Indian Premier League.

The struggling Yusuf Pathan reposed Gautam Gambhir's faith as he finally returned to form with an unbeaten 49 (35 balls; 3x4, 3x6), his highest for the Knight Riders.A Pathan shared an unbroken 78-run third-wicket partnership with Jacques Kallis, who struck an unbeaten 33, as the duo settled the issue with 16 balls to spare.

Kallis struck Brad Hogg over his head for a boundary to finish the chase as Pathan remained stranded one run shy of a half-century but his coming to form ensured Knight Riders their fourth win from 11 matches.A Chasing a modest 133, the Knight Riders set the tone with Gambhir (12) and Manvinder Bisla (29) sharing a 41-run opening-wicket partnership that came off just 33 balls.

For the Royals, skipper Rahul Dravid's decision to bat way down the order at No.7 did not help their cause as they were completely outplayed by the hosts. Bisla stepped out to Chavan for a six over long-on in the third over, and in the next over, struck back to back boundaries off Watson as they raced to 35 for none in the fourth over.

Earlier, a spin-reliant KKR took full use of the sluggish Eden surface to restrict Rajasthan Royals to a modest 132 for six. A Sanju Samson (40, 1x4, 2x6) was the top-scorer for Royals while Shane Watson made run-a-ball 35 as both shared 44-run third-wicket partnership after the visitors were reduced to 27 for two.

Brief Scores: RR 132 for 6 (Sanju Viswanath 40, Shane Watson 35, Sachithra Senanayake 2/26) lost to KKR 133 for 2 (Yusuf Pathan 49no, Jacques Kallis 33no)