Kolkata reach finals of IPL 7 after defeating Punjab

Kolkata reach finals of IPL 7 after defeating Punjab (The Nation)

Kolkata Knight Riders books a place in IPL 7 final after they defeated Kings XI Punjab by 28 runs in Qualifier 1 at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Robin Uthappa, Umesh Yadav and Morne Morkel get most of the credit for their spectacular performances as 2012 champions won comfortably by a big margin.

Defending 164 on a slow surface that remained under cover for three days, Yadav (3 for 13) and Morkel (2 for 23) shared five wickets between them, while Piyush Chawla also bowled smartly to restrict Punjab to 135 for 8 in 20 overs and hand KKR a record eighth victory on the trot.

Virender Sehwag was the first man to fall for KXIP as his crips shot found Shakib at point. Vohra and Wriddhiman Saha then scored some quick runs and kept up with the par score according to the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method. But KKR bounced back to dismiss Vohra when Morkel had the opener in the next over to make the D/L equation in the home team's favour.