Kolkata: Describing Kolkata Knight Riders as "deserving winners" of the Indian Premier League, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly praised Manvinder Bisla for his cracker of an innings that set the stage for the team's triumph in the final against Chennai Super Kings Sunday.

"After the first six overs in the KKR innings, I thought 191 was gettable. I thought KKR was destined to win. Bisla batted superbly. It was clean hitting. He played out of his skin."

"He never allowed the pressure to choke him. He and (Jacques) Kallis never allowed the requird run rate to go out of control," Ganguly told Bengali news channel Star Ananda.

Replying to the Kings' 190/3, KKR lost skipper Gautam Gambhir early, but Bisla plundered 89 and added 136 with Kallis for the second wicket.

"Kolkata Knight Riders are deserving winners. Chennai Super Kings never seemed as consistently good as the Knights," he said. (IANS)