Al Hassan and Pathan Lead Knight Riders To Their First IPL Final

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Man of the Match Yusuf was 40 runs not out. And teammate Shakib Al Hassan bowled four strong overs, as the two of them led the Kolkata Knight Riders to their first ever Indian Premier League finals. They qualified for the finals with an 18 run victory over the Delhi Daredevils. This season of the IPL is the fifth annual installment.

Kolkata and Delhi finished the regular season at the top of the IPL standings, and Kolkata came out on top after Delhi could only make 144 for eight in pursuit of a victory target of 163.

Kolkata chose to bat first and made 162 for four off their 20 overs. Yusuf Pathan came to bat late with a force, striking three fours and two sixes in his 20-ball 40 not out. Captain Gautam Gambhir raced to 32 off 16 deliveries before he was run out, while overseas stars Brendon McCullum and Jacques Kallis fell for 31 and 30, respectively.

Delhi suffered a huge blow in their chase when they lost big-hitting openers David Warner (seven) and Virender Sehwag (10) off successive deliveries at the end of the second over and start of the third. That left the Daredevils on 24 for two and, despite a third-wicket stand of 59 between Mahela Jayawardene (40) and Naman Ojha (29). they fell short in the end.

Kolkata go through to the final in Chennai on May 27th with this win but Delhi still have a chance of meeting them there as the Daredevils now face the winner of Wednesday’s eliminator between the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

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