KKR post challenging 167/7 against Sunrisers

Yusuf Pathan's unbeaten late blitz helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) amass a challenging score of 167/7 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Eden Gardens here on Monday.

For Sunrisers, Karn Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed two wickets each.

Pathan struck an unbeaten 30 in 19 balls, with four hits to the fence.

The Knights were quick to get off the block as the openers, skipper Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, started on a high.

Some wayward bowling from the Sunrisers seamers helped their cause, as both Gambhir and Uthappa kept on disdainfully dispatching the leather to the ropes, with 50 coming up in just 5.3 overs.

However, Gambhir (31; 23b, 5x4) fell soon thereafter trying to hit Karn Sharma for a biggie and was caught at deep midwicket.

Uthappa (30; 27b, 3x4) and Jamaican hard-hitter Andre Russell (1) followed their leader into the dugout a little while later, even as the scoreboard kept ticking along at a decent pace.

The 100 came up in the 13th over, and just as KKR looked settled with Manish Pandey and Netherlands batsman Ryan ten Doeschate, the former fell short of his crease trying to sneak a single amidst indecision.

ten Doeschate was adjudged leg-before-wicket with the visitors pulling things back.

Two more wickets fell thereafter as KKR scraped past the 160-run mark to post a decent total.