Rain plays spoilsport as KKR pip Kings XI by 11 runs under D/L

Kolkata Knight Riders 79 for 1 (Gayle 44*, McCullum 21) beat Kings XI Punjab 158 for 6 (Yuvraj 38, Pathan 32, Ganguly 2-24) by 11 runs by D/L method


Yuvraj: "It's a bit unfortunate, but we also dropped a catch and that let them get ahead. Batting looked pretty good but we need to sort out our bowling. It's a similar start like last year, but we need to push on from here."

McCullum: "Nice to get a result go our way, and this win should give us some momentum. We thought a score of 150-160 was par on this ground, but Gayle got us off to a superb start. It could have been a potentially close game, but for the rain."

Chris Gayle is the Man of the Match: "I'm happy with the result though the spectators would have wanted a full game. McCullum eased the pressure off me. I tried to get my eye in, and the first couple of overs where we were a little more careful, were vital."

Chris Gayle blasted 44 runs in 26 balls to put the Kolkata Knight Riders in a winning position when heavy rain ended their Indian Premier League match against the Kings XI Punjab in Durban.

Gayle hit four sixes as his side raced to 79 for one in 9.2 overs having been set 159 to win by the Kings XI Punjab.

The West Indian left-hander took full advantage of being dropped on two and 32 with some savage hitting to all parts of the ground and he was helped along by Brendon McCullum (21). The New Zealander faced 16 balls and the pair brought up 57 for the first wicket in 5.3 overs before McCullum was well caught by Kumar Sangakkara off of Vikramjeet Malik.

Brad Hodge was unbeaten on ten when the heavy rain arrived with the Knight Riders 11 runs ahead of the Duckworth/Lewis par score of 68, handing them their first win of the tournament following an opening day loss against the Deccan Chargers.

The result leaves the Kings XI still searching for a first win after two matches despite showing some signs of brilliance with the bat. Karan Goel (0) departed early but Irfan Pathan lit up Kingsmead with some crunching pulls on his way to 32 in 17 balls before innings of substance from captain Yuvraj Singh (38), Mahela Jayawardene (31 not out) and Sangakkara (26) appeared to put them in a strong position at the halfway stage.

Saurav Ganguly was the latest player with a huge amount of experience to star when he took two wickets in an over to dismis Pathan and Ravi Bopara (15) and such was the ferocity of Gayle's batting, that last year's captain wasn't even called on to bat.