David Hussey clinches thriller at Eden Gardens
Posted on Apr 20, 2008 at 15:48 | Updated Apr 21, 2008 at 20:30
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Kolkata: In a match that went right down to the wire, the climax seemed to be lifted straight from one of Kolkata Knight Riders' owner Shah Rukh Khan's blockbusters.
Locked in battle in an evenly matched, star-studded contest, the Deccan Chargers from Hyderabad were skittled out for 110 before they came back only to lose to out to some David Hussey brilliance on a wicket which appeared to have been exposed to at least eight days of continuous cricket.
If the Kanpur minefield in the recent India-South Africa Test was made to favour the home side, this particular track at the Eden was just that, enough for the Knight Riders to bundle out the visitors for 110 inside 20 overs. That there were any favours attached to it, is however unknown.
However, chasing the lowest total in the tournament so far, this one wasn't going to be a walk in the park. The Knight Riders were 89-5 after 16.4 overs. So bad was the pitch that it was almost embarrassing for Indian cricket's grandest stage — the Eden Gardens — that one of the light towers at the stadium went out.
Needing a solid opening stand, not necessarily by way of the runs on the board, the Knight Riders lost Brendon McCullum early, before Chaminda Vaas trapped Ricky Ponting leg before for his second successive failure.
Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey gutsed it out with the former taking a fierce blow on the rib as the duo ambled to their target. But Ganguly's dismissal not only spurred the visitors to stage an excellent fightback, but created a deafening silence at the packed Eden.
Had it been a blackout, the abrupt end couldn't have dented the tournament's spectacular progress, as the hosts were 89-5, exactly their cut-off score where they should have been. However, the lights were back on as David Hussey hit two mammoth sixes to guide the Knight Riders to their second straight win in the competition.
As VVS Laxman put it during the toss, this one was the "keen contest" everyone was looking forward to, as his Deccan Chargers Hydebarad outfit elected to bat here on Sunday.
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Total Comments: 6
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Posted By Pratyush
I watched the match at Eden\''s yesterday,and to the credit of all the kolkatans , they braved the sweltering heat
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Posted By Emmveeyem
The Eden Garden Encounter is one of the worst. The Pitch Condition was highly deplorable. The entire match failed to
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Posted By Purnima
Gilly mate you r the best too good sad to see you go from world of crick. That 6 and
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Posted By LVISS
ANDREW SYMONDS FOLLIOWED UP HIS GOOD PERFORMANCE WITH THE BAT WITH SOME SHODDY BOWLING. HE BOWLED SOME LOOSE DELIVERIES AND
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Posted By C.Sasidharan
WHAT\''S IN A NAME???
IPL very interesting concept. But a small query - why Mumbai Indians - when other teams
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