Kolkata bursts crackers, celebrates Knight victory

Kolkatans burst firecrackers and broke into celebrations as Kolkata Knight Riders emerged champions in the Indian Premier league Sunday, the team's second success in the last three years.

As Piyush Chawla sent Parvinder Awana into the fence past point to score the winning runs, the Knights' fans here "glued to the television sets since the early evening to catch the final live" jumped in joy, pumped their feasts and shouted in rejoicement.

Within minutes, the crackers started going off. A large number of people hit the streets and made merry with KKR flags.

The city streets, shopping malls and auditoria were virtually deserted since the evening as the denizens savoured every moment of the Knight's three wicket victory in the nail-biting final which swung from one end to the other till Chawla settled the issue with a couple of lusty blows.

Leading Bengali film actor Abir Chattopadhyay was ecstatic. "There could not have been a better IPl final. When the Kings scored 199, even the most ardent of KKR fans would have had doubts about whether their team can make it. The Knights lost regular wickets, but it is great they finished it on a triumphant note."

The Knights had earlier won the tournament in 2012.