Kolkata Knight Riders wins the IPL 2012 title

Kolkata Knight Riders has won their maiden IPL trophy. In the final match of the IPL 2012, they defeated Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets with two balls remaining at hand at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Manoj Tiwary hit the winning score and led his team to victory. He along with Shakib Al Hasan played the most important innings that helped the team to stop Chennai Super Kings claiming their third IPL trophy in a row.

Kolkata Knight Riders needed 191 runs to win the trophy in 20 overs. Despite losing the wicket of skipper Gautam Gambhir, KKR could turn back to the competition thanks to Manvinder Bisla and Jacques Kallis.

Manvinder Bisla played an aggressive innings of 89 off 48 including eight fours and five sixes. On the other hand, Kallis scored 69 runs from 49 balls where he hit 7 fours and one six. They added a 136-run partnership in the second-wicket stand.

Shakib Al Hasan remained unbeaten on 11 while Manoj Tiwary scored not out 9 from 3 balls.

Ben Hilfenhaus caught two wickets while other three wickets were taken by Albie Morkel, Ashwin and Dwayne Bravo.

Winning the toss, CSK elected to bat first and scored 190 for the loss of 3 wickets. Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay made a good start and added 87 runs in the opening stand. They scored respectively 54 and 42 runs. Suresh Raina played an aggressive innings of 38-ball 73 and it helped the home team to make a tough chasing score. Dhoni remained not out on 14.

Kolkata Knight Riders secures their maiden final berth

Beating Delhi Daredevils by 18 runs in Qualifier-I at the Subrato Roy Sahara stadium on 22^nd May (Tuesday), Kolkata Knight Riders secured their place in the final round of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It is their maiden final berth in IPL and the second victory against the same opponent team. They are now waiting for the opponent team with whom they will fight for the trophy.

After coming to bat first, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 162 for four in 20 overs. They could put on such a competitive chasing score against the opponent team thanks to Yusuf Pathan and Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Both of them played aggressively.

Yusuf Pathan scored unbeaten 40 off 21 balls including three fours and two sixes while Laxmi Ratan Shukla remained not out on 24 runs from 11 balls where he hit three fours and one boundary. In their fifth wicket stand, they added 56 runs from 24 balls.

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper and opening batsman, Gautam Gambhir, gave his team a quick start scoring 32 off 16 balls. On the other hand, wicketkeeper-batsman, Brendon McCullum, took long time to be set in the pitch. He played a passionate innings of 31 runs from 36 balls. South African all rounder Jacques Kallis was another player who scored double figure (30).

In reply, Delhi Daredevils also made a good start but could not continue it. After falling two opening wickets for 24 they were put under huge pressure. Then Naman Ojha and Mahela Jayawardene took the control of their team and put on a 59-run partnership in the third wicket-stand and brought the Daredevils back into the chase. They scored respectively 28 and 40.

However, Kolkata Knight Rider’s bowlers could restrict the Daredevils to 144 for eight. Both Jacques Kallis and Sunil Narine took two wickets each while other four wickets were taken by Lakshmipathy Balaji, Shakib Al Hasan, Iqbal Abdulla and Rajat Bhatia.

However, Delhi Daredevils still have the possibility to qualify for the final. Daredevils will take on the winner of eliminator between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in the second qualifier. If they win the second qualifier match then they will face Knight Riders in the final match in Chennai on Sunday.

Kolkata Knight Riders: List of players for IPL 2011

The two-day IPL 2011 players’ auction, which started on 8 January 2011, ended one day ago. In these two days, ten IPL franchises were seen fighting against each other to rope in star players for the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League. Each of the IPL clubs have already organized their squads bagging star players.

Shah Rukh Khan owned Kolkata Knight Riders looks much stronger and balanced one than other IPL franchises. Other two onwers are Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband Jay Mehta. They are expecting that their club will win the title in the fourth edition of IPL.

KKR owners have arranged their clubs with a bunch of fresh players. This time, they didn’t retain any old players in the squad. They have spent huge amount of money to get best quality players.

However, Shah Rukh Khan’s decision of not keeping Sourav Ganguly in the KKR team disappointed the Kolkatan supporters. Even’s dada’s supporters burnt SRK’s effigies in different cities. Sourav Ganguly remained unsold in the IPL 2011 auctions. No one clubs were interested to bid for him.

It is very tragic to see him not finding any takers. He was the fourth highest run scorer in the previous edition and highest run scorer for KKR team.

Sourav Ganguly’s base price in the bidding list was $200,000, but later he asked Shah Rukh Khan to hike his price to $400,000. It is heard that Deccan Chargers were interested to buy him before he hiked his price.

Coached by Dav Whatmore, KKR team didn’t perform that well in the last three editions. Even, they could not move into the semi-final round ever. Now, they are aiming to win the title in the fourth edition.

The theme song of the KKR team is Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo Re (Bengali for We will do it, Fight for it, Win it) and the official colors are purble and gold.

The list of players in the Kolkata Knight Riders team are given below along with their bought price-

Gautam Gambhir – 2.4 Million USD (11.04 Crore INR)

Yusuf Pathan – 2.1 Million USD (9.66 Crore INR)

Jacques Kallis – 1.1 Million USD (4.96 Crore INR)

Manoj Tiwary – 0.475 Million USD (2.14 Crore INR)

Shakib al Hasan – 0.475 Million USD (1.92 Crore INR)

Brett Lee – 0.4 Million USD (1.81 Crore INR)

Eoin Morgan – 0.35 Million USD (1.58 Crore INR)

Brad Haddin – 0.325 Million USD (1.46 Crore INR)

Jaidev Unadkat – 0.25 Million USD (1.13 Crore INR)

Ryan ten Doeschate – 0.15 Million USD

James Pattinson – 0.1 Million USD

L Balaji – 500000 USD

One can visit the official website of KKR team for more information. The official website address is- http://www.kkr.in.

IPL 2011 will stars from 8^th April. This time, ten clubs will compete against each other.