CLT20: Gambhir, Narine guide KKR to easy win over Lahore Lions

Hyderabad Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a confident halfcentury after Sunil Narine stifled Lahore Lions with his magical spin bowling as Kolkata Knight Riders eked out a fourwicket win in a Champions League Twenty20 Group A match here todayGambhir 60 anchored the 152run chase with his 47ball knock as he and fellow opener Robin Uthappa 46 rattled up a 100run stand which paved the way for an easy win which was 11th in a row for the IPL champions in this formatThe chase was complete in 193 overs as KKR lost five quick wickets after being placed comfortably at 113 for one at one stageKolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir reacts after reaching his half century during the CLT20 match against Lahore Lions in Hyderabad on SundayNarine in his excellent figures took three wickets at the expense of just nine runs in his four overs as Lions posted 151 for seven after being asked to batNarine scalped two batsmen in two balls in his threewicket haul and it was largely the contributions from opener Ahmed Shehzad 59 and Umar Akmal 40 that propped up the Lions innings Gambhir and Uthappa stroked freely before offspinner Adnand Rasool broke the stand by castling the latter in the 13th over Exactly 12 balls later Gambhir met the same fate at the hands of paceman Mustafa IqbalKKR were firmly in control at that stage but lost wickets in a heap after that as they lost Manvinder Bisla 6 Yusuf Pathan 11 Ryan ten Doeschate 12 and Andre Russell 1 Suryakumar Yadav 14 though ensured that KKR crossed the finish line and there was no twist in the taleGambhir was hardly troubled by any Lions bowlers as they bowled either full or shortpitched stuff at the Indian batsman who got better and better with each strokeGmabhir had no problem whatsoever as he and KKR were off to a flying start The southpaw played ferocious cuts when challenged with short balls lofted confidently on full length balls and dabbed elegantly as KKR raced to 48 in six oversUthappa was dropped on 14 when the fielder failed to hold on to a difficult chance off paceman Cheema This was after Uthappa drove Cheema for two boundariesBoth the openers matched each other stroke for stroke as Pakistani side persisted with spinners a strategy which backfiredUthappa lofted Mustafa Iqbal for a six and a four as KKR were placed comfortably and in control at 82 for none at halfway mark He though encountered cramps in the middle ofthe 11th over and received treatment from physioEarlier Lions opener Shehzad could have been stumped twice and also caught once before being finally dismissed He ended up punishing the KKR bowlers with four sixes and five fours in his 42ball knock Akmal scored 40 off just 24 balls before being dismissed off the last ball of the Lions innings He creamed off 16 runs off Piyush Chawla in the 17th over hitting the spinner for two fours and a six and also hit paceman Pat Cummins for a straight six in the last overAlong with Wahab Riaz 14 not out he added 48 runs for the seventh wicket in just 43 overs to help Lions recover some groundAkmals onslaught came after Narine dismissed Umar Siddiq 2 and Asif Raza 0 off successive balls He could have taken a fourth wicket but dropped Wahab Riaz off his own bowlingAustralian paceman Cummins was hammered around when he bowled full as Pakistani batsmen were terrific in picking up the length after they being asked to batShehzad was comfortable swinging his bat on both sides as he found two boundaries including a sixSkipper Gambhir introduced Chawla in the fourth over but the leg spinner was also taken to cleaners by Shehzad even as the Indian bowler was unlucky as Manvinder Bisla missed an easy stumping in the fifth ball Shehzad was on 19Debutant Kuldeep Yadav was impressive with his Chinaman stuff but he too was denied a wicket thanks to Bislas second miss Again it was Shehzad who was the beneficiary HoweverKKR finally got a wicket in the same over when Andre Russels direct hit found Nasir Jamshed 10 short of crease The KKR largesses for Shehzad continued as now Narine missed out on grabbing a catch chance at short third man whenthe batsman reverse sweptLions skipper Mohammed Hafeez 9 did not last long as he became the maiden wicket for young Yadav who foxed the Pakistani batsman with a wrong oneShehzad completed his halfcentury with a cheeky boundary but was dismissed when caught at boundary ropes by Robin Uthappa off Chawla Brief ScoresLahore Lions 151 for seven in 20 overs Ahmed Shehzad 59 Umar Akmal 40 Sunil Narine 39 Pat Cummins 138Kolkata Knight Riders 153 for six in 193 overs Gautam Gambhir 60 Robin Uthappa 46 Adnan Rasool 128 Aizaz Cheema 242