Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders rode on Yusuf Pathan's 42 from 24 balls to post a competitive 171 for 7 against Delhi Daredevils in their return leg clash of the IPL T20 cricket tournament here today.
Pathan once again held KKR's innings together and struck three fours and three sixes even as DD picked wickets at regular intervals at Eden Gardens.
Imran Tahir (2/46) dismissed Pathan in the penultimate over of the innings but Johan Botha blasted 17 from five balls in the last over to fire up the total after KKR elected to bat for the first time this season.
Playing with an extra bowler after Sunil Narine got a clearance from the Board, a relieved KKR rejigged their batting order and sent Piyush Chawla at No 4.
The KKR legspinner looked unconvincing but his cameo of 22 from 19 balls (1x4, 1x6) kept the run-rate ticking, even as Mishra bowled a tight spell conceding two runs with one wicket from his first two overs.
Chawla almost fell on the wickets after losing his balance trying to get away an Angelo Mathews bouncer as he looked out of sorts but nevertheless KKR kept the run-rate ticking even as Mishra (1/20) bowled a tidy spell.
Earlier, DD were severely let down by their fielding and Uthappa benefited the most after being dropped twice during his 31-ball 32 run innings. On both the occasions, the ball slipped in between the fielders' hands.
Manoj let one slip over the boundary when Uthappa was on 15, while Yuvraj who was employed at short midwicket dropped a sitter when the KKR opener was on 23.
Gambhir (12 from 10 balls) had given KKR a typical flying start putting on 38 runs with Uthappa from 4.3 overs before Zaheer Khan gave DD the first breakthrough inducing an outside edge from the KKR skipper.
Aided by the two reprieves, Uthappa and Pandey (22) capitalised on the start as KKR coasted to 50/1 from six overs before Mishra put brakes on the run-rate conceding one run from his first over.
