CLT20: Kolkata Knight Riders too hot for Perth Scorchers, win 12th match on the trot

Hyderabad Kolkata Knight Riders rode on some brilliant late hitting by Suryakumar Yadav todefeatPerth Scorchers by three wickets in a Group A match of theOppo Champions League Twenty20 here todayWith this win Kolkata KnightRiders have stretched their winning streak to a record 12 as theyto all but confirmed their semifinal spot in CLT20 Chasing 152 for win KKR lost early wickets but Suryakumaradav 43 not out and Yusuf Pathan 21 stitched a 38runsixthwicket partnership to help them achieve the target in194 overs and set a domestic record of 12 straight winsKKR had an inauspicious start after skipper GautamGambhir 2 was caught at point off Joel Paris 119 in thesecond over and soon Jason Behrendorff 128 got JacquesKallis to flick one straight into the hands of Craig Simmonsat short fine legSunil Narine took 4 for 31 from his four oversRobin Uthappa 23 did try to hang around but was caughtbehind after trying to chase a rising delivery off NathanCoulterNile 241Manish Pandey 24 also tried to give some stability tothe innings but fell to a perfect CoulterNile yorker in the11th overDutch star Ryan ten Doeschate who had a big role to playin the opening win against Chenni Super Kings couldnt lastlong either as he fell to Yasir Arafat 339 and put KKR in abit of trouble at 87 for fiveYusuf who injured his foot in the 17th over carried onwith some strapping but was holed out at deep midwicket asArafat picked up his second scalpBut Suryakumar whose 19ball knock was laced by a fourand 4 sixes ensured that KKR register their third successivewin in the tournament so far even after Andre Russell 4 wascleaned by Arafat on the first ball of the last overEarlier leading by example Adam Voges struck an unbeaten 71 to help Perth Scorchers post a respectable 151 for seven in 20 oversVoges 52ball knock was laced by 8 fours and a six as KKR ace Sunil Narine 431 once again proved his worth for the Indian Premier League championsElecting to bat Perth openers Craig Simmons 39 and Voges gave the team a perfect start after smashing 68 runs in 9 oversThe batsmen though got a little help from the fielders as Jacques Kallis 039 dropped a caught and bowled chance in the second over to give Voges a life on 2 runs The South African mediumpacer got another tough caught and bowled opportunity in the fourth over as Simmons was the beneficiary on 22 this time around Simmons got another life on 27 after Suryakumar Yadav dropped a running catch at deep midwicket off Piyush Chawla 035But the lefthanded opener could not capitalise on the lives given to him as leftarm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav 323 gave KKR their first breakthrough on the last ball of the ninth over after getting Simmons stumpedKuldeep once again delivered a punch in the 12th over after getting Mitchell Marsh stumped for 4But Voges carried on in the same vein as KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir kept rotating his bowlers to try and keep the batsmen unsettled The aggressive Voges finally got his fifty in the 15th over off Kallis after swiping a boundary past fine leg The shot also brought Perths 100 as new bastman Sam Whiteman 21 also started to settle inThe VogesWhiteman duo stitched a thirdwicket 39run partnership to improve the teams run rate moving into the final oversNarine though soon plotted Whitemans downfall after the lefthander hit the offspinner for a four and a six in the 16th over but another slog on the last ball cost him his wicket as Suryakumar took a safe catch at longonKKRs newfound baby Kuldeep also kept the wickettaking going as the 18yearold player packed NathanCoulter Nile back for a duck to check Perths scoring rateVoges kept the boundary count going but found little support from the other end after Narine cleaned up Ashton Agar 4 and then bowled Ashton Turner 0 on the final two deliveries of his third over overThe champion West Indian bowler did not get a hattrick but once again showed his might in the shorter format after giving away just 7 runs and getting the wicket of Yasir Arafat 10Voges though remained unconquered to give some respectability to the ScorchersBrief ScoresPerth Scorchers 151 for 7 in 20 oversAdam Voges 71 notout Craig Simmons 39 Sunil Narine 431 Kuldeep Yadav 334Kolkata Knight Riders 153 for 7 in 194 oversSuryakumar Yadav 43 not out Manish Pandey 24 NathanCoulterNile 241 Yasir Arafat 339