Tripathi's brilliant 93 powers Pune to four-wicket victory over Kolkata
Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Steven Smith
RPS's Rahul Tripathi en route his 93 against KKRâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088yesterday. Pics/AFP
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Kolkata Knight Riders failed to defend their fortress called Eden as the Rising Pune Supergiant continued their rise in IPL-10 with a four-wicket win here yesterday. Chasing 156, Pune coasted home with only a few hiccups.
On a pitch the Knights had scripted a most remarkable comeback against RCB the other day, young Rahul Tripathi was quashing all hopes with a power-packed knock that had already yielded 93 off 52 deliveries, and had nine fours and six sixes. The pinch-hitting of the 26-year-old rookie from Ranchi was in sharp contrast to Sunil Narine's stint as an opener this night. The West Indian 'mystery spinner' had made a hash of the brief period he spent with the bat, a swing-n-miss session ending in a caught & bowled dismissal that had Jaydev Unadkat launching the match with a rare wicket-maiden.
RPS's Ben Stokes (left) collides with Steven Smith while attempting a catch against KKRâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088at Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday
If Ajinkya Rahane's dismissal in the second over, Umesh Yadav having him tickle a rising one outside off, fuelled visions of a fightback, it was soon doused in an avalanche of runs. Though a couple of wickets were lost, the power-play yielded 74 runs, a sharp contrast to KKR's 41 for three - one of their lowest in the competition. Pune were on their way.
For KKR, it was a most inopportune moment for the Narine batting bubble to burst. There was no Robin Uthappa to take it in his stride, the in-form one-drop sitting out with a hamstring injury. More alarmingly for the Knights, they pressed 'panic' instead of 'poise'. New-man Sheldon Jackson and Gautam Gambhir struggled and left within the power play, the skipper caught at deep mid-wicket just as he was beginning to look his confident himself. A fifth-wicket partnership between Manish Pandey and Colin de Grandhomme resurrected hopes but the pressure to push for a challenging total never eased.
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