Kolkata beat Punjab to win IPL title for second time

BANGALORE: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Kings XI Punjab by three wickets to lift their second title in the Indian Premier League here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

The KKR captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bowl first against Kings XI Punjab who made 199 for four in the 20 overs.

Wriddhiman Saha scored an unbeaten 115, his second century in the tournament, to help Punjab set a big target of 200 for Kolkata.

However, Kolkata despite losing seven wickets reached the target with three balls to spare, thanks to a brilliant innings of 94 from Manish Pandey. He was later declared the Man-of-the-Match.

Pandey's 94 off 50 balls, an innings fuelled by an urgency that did not abate, pulled off the highest successful chase in any Twenty20 final.

He lit up the Chinnaswamy Stadium, as Kings XI legspinner Karanveer Singh picked off three of his team-mates, and as left-arm spinner Akshar Patel displayed outstanding composure to concede 5.25 an over, while most bowlers on both sides bled at more than 10.

Pandey's gutsy salvo came in response to Wriddhiman Saha scoring the first hundred in an IPL final, and Manan Vohra compiling a half-century, to lead Kings XI to 199.

Knight Riders achieved their highest score of the season to lift the title.