Knights of Eden prevail again

Finally, as the lights returned, two unlikely heroes, David Hussey and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, got back on the pitch for Kolkata Knight Riders, needing 22 runs off 20 balls to consign VVS Laxman's Deccan Chargers to defeat.

In the end, it was the Bollywood Badshah who had the last laugh, but not before some heart-in-the-mouth moments. The tenacious Australian Hussey proved his mettle when it mattered most, smashing a six, a four, and another six to see Knight Riders through to a 5-wicket win with six balls to spare.

Deccan Chargers had fought hard on a devil of a pitch, thanks largely to heroic bowling efforts from Chaminda Vaas (2/9), RP Singh (1/15) and Pragyan Ojha (2/18), but came up just short.

In stark contrast to the IPL's tournament opener in Bangalore, here was one low-scoring match on a nightmare of a pitch. Luckily, though, it threw up the most thrilling contest of the tournament as yet.

When he opted to bat first, Laxman would not havex anticipated just what his batsmen were up against. The Knight Riders bowling attack made the most of a two-paced Eden Gardens wicket by sticking to line and length, and the Chargers's big-named batting line-up failed to click. Venugopal Rao was the first to fall, perishing off Ishant after mishiting a cheeky square nudge. Laxman walked in amidst deafening roars, but failed to ignite, returning for a duck after lobbing a catch off a straightening Shukla delivery.

For a brief while, it appeared that Adam Gilchrist had taken stock of the situation, pummeling Ajit Agarkar for two lusty sixes and a racy four in the sixth over. But he flattered to deceive, holing out in the deep off the Murali Kartik.

After Gilchrist's departure at 47/3, the hosts caught Laxman & Co by the scruff of the neck. As a restrained Symonds helplessly looked on from the non-striker's end, wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

Kartik emerged as the best pick, finishing with 3/17, Ishant produced yet another gem, conceding just 9 runs off 3 overs.

But the chase of just 111 was also to prove much too thrilling as the home team stalwarts, Sourav Ganguly (14) and Ricky Ponting (0), failed to make their presence felt.

Laxman slams Eden pitch

IT was the kind of pitch that can make even the most politically correct players lose their temper. So, VVS Laxman's ripping apart of the Eden Gardens track was hardly a surprise. "It's a shocking wicket. This pitch is not good for any form of the game. I am really disappointed," a visibly-upset Laxman, skipper of the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, told mediapersons. The pitch, which saw just 222 runs scored in the two innings combined, drew flak from various quarters, and Eden curator Kalyan Mitra is already under the scanner for preparing the two-paced track. "In Twenty20 cricket, you expect high scores. This is bad advertisement of the game. This is not the kind of wicket you expect at Eden," Laxman said. The Hyderabadi batsman came a cropper with the bat after he elected to bat first. The fact that the two best scores in the day's play were David Hussey's 38 and Andrew Symonds's 32 are indication enough of how unplayable the Eden wicket was. See page 13

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