Smith's four wickets help Gujarat restrict Kolkata to 124/8

Dwayne Smith (4-8) starred with his gentle medium pace bowling as Gujarat Lions restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to 124 for eight in 20 overs in an Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.

Coming in to bowl in the fourth over, Smith almost ran through the Kolkata Knight Rider and by the time he got his fourth wicket, the visitors were 61-5 in 11.3 overs. More than his bowling, it was the poor shot selections that led to dismissals of Kolkata batsmen.

It was Yusuf Pathan's run-a-ball 36 that ensured that Kolkata managed to cross the 120-run mark. Opening batsman Robbin Uthappa contributed 25 runs.

Asked to bat in the must-win tie for both the teams, Kolkata never got the momentum right from the start.

Gautam Gambhir (8) got a life in the third over off the bowling of medium pacer Pravin Kumar as the left-handed batsman offered a difficult catach to Smith at slip. However, Gambhir failed to make the most of it as he was run out by a direct throw from Shadab Jakati short midwicket after Robbin Uthappa played a Smith delivery in the next over to short midwicket and the two batsmen were in confusion to take the single.

Afterwards, it was all about Smith as the West Indian took wickets regularly. His first wicket was Manish Pandey (1), who edged it to skipper Suresh Raina at second slip.

Uthappa was next to go as he failed to negotiate a bouncy delivery, only to be caught behind by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, as the visitors reeled at 44/3 in 6.2 overs.

KKR promoted Piyush Chawla (11) to enable their main batsmen bat at the death if the leg-spinner managed to score some but he perished, being bowled by Smith through his defence.

Smith didn't stop then and dealt another blow to Kolkata as world-class Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan employed an upper cut and was holed out by Eklavya Dwivedi at third man.

Later, Pathan and Suryakumar Yadav (17) threatened but the latter fell soon. But Pathan hit a six and three fours to help their team reach 124-8.

Brief scores: Kolkata: 124-8 (Yusuf Pathan; Dwayne Smith 4-8) vs Gujarat.

--IANS

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