Kolkata: It turned out to be a good toss to lose for Kolkata Knight Kniders as Punjab after winning the toss decided to field first in a pitch which was under covers for almost 48 hours. KKR did not get off to the best of starts as they lost their captain Gautam Gambhir very early on in the innings to a short ball bowled by Mitchel Johnson. Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa continued playing their shots as they looked rebuild the innings. The duo added 65 runs before Uthappa got out in trying to up the ante. It was a double blow for KKR as Manish pandey soon followed Uthappa to the dressing with the score 67.

After losing the top order quickly Yusuf Pathan and Shakib ul Hasan kept things rolling as KKR threatened to take the match away from Kings XI Punjab. But every time KKR looked good to post a good total they lost a couple of wickets. With Shakib and Pathan, both back in the hit in successive balls it was left to Ryan Ten Deschate to get them to a respectable score.

Surya Kumar Yadav and Deschate took KKR to a 163 which was a good total in a track which was getting slower and slower as the game was progessing. Robin Uthappa was the top scorer of the side with his 42 and Yadav played a good hand of 20 which just about kept KKR in the match.

Umesh Yadav drew first blood for KKR by dismissing the dangerous Virender Sehwag as rain was threatening to play spoil sport. Manan Vohra once again looked a class apart as he smashed Shakib for two sixes in one over which just about kept KXI Punjab ahead of the run-rate required by Duckworth-Lewis method.

But playing for the rain is always a dangerous ploy as Punjab lost Vohra and Maxwell in trying to stay ahead of the Duckworth Lewis method and from there on there was no coming back as they lost wickets at regular intervals which gave KKR a convincing win by 28 runs to seal their spot in the finals.