Opener Eoin Morgan's half century went in-vain as Kochi Tuskers Kerala produced a clinical bowling display to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 17 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.
KKR paid the price for a poor final over bowled by Brett Lee that cost them 22 runs with Man of the match Brad Hodge (35 not out, 3x4, 2x6) hitting a couple of sixes and boundaries.
The Kolkata Knight Riders lost their third wicket against Kochi Tuskers Kerala as Manoj Tiwary was snapped up by Vinay Kumar in match 45 of IPL-4 at the Nehru stadium on Thursday.
Earlier, Raiphi Gomez got the wickets of Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir off successive deliveries to lead Kochi's fightback.
Earlier, Skipper Mahela Jayawardene led from the front, hitting a fighting half-century to help the Kochi Tuskers post a challenging 156 for five.
Jayawardene came up with a 41-ball 55 with the help of two fours and as many sixes, while Australian Brad Hodge (34) smashed an unbeaten 35 off just 19 deliveries in the death overs to guide the home side to a competitive total.
Hodge hit three fours and two sixes to help Kochi cross 150-run mark after being put into bat here at the Nehru Stadium.
The Sri Lankan also added crucial 50 runs along with opener Michael Klinger (29) for the third wicket to provide the much-needed impetus to Kochi innings.
For the Knight Riders, Jaidev Unadkat finished with two for 25, while Rajat Bhatia (1/22) and Yusuf Pathan (1/16) chipped in with a wicket each.Kolkata's Australian import Brett Lee, who remained wicketless, opened the bowling for the visitors and bowled a superb maiden over under overcast conditions, with ball nipping away from the right-hander Brendon McCullum.
McCullum (1) was first to depart caught at first slip by Jacques Kallis off Unadkat while attempting a big shot in the second over of the innings.
Next man-in Parthiv Patel (21) looked promising as he clobbered Lee for two consecutive fours in the third over to somewhat push the scoring rate.
However, his stay at the crease was cut short by Unadkat, who lured the Kochi batsman into a pull-shot only to be caught by Rajat Bhatia over midwicket in the sixth over.
As he was getting increasingly restless, Patel decided to come down the pitch and pull Unadkat but his mistimed swing was lapped by Bhatia on the third attempt, who had to run back a few paces.
Skipper Jayawardene then joined forces with opener Klinger and helped the team's cause with singles and twos.
It was in the eighth over, bowled by Sarabjit Ladda that saw Kochi outfit accumulating 13 runs with Jayawardene depositing a short-pitch delivery from the leg-spinner for a six over extra cover into the crowd.
That particular hit also brought the Sri Lankan's 1000 runs in the tournament.
This over was followed by another from Jacques Kallis that yielded nine runs.
Both Jayawardene and Klinger first steadied the ship for Kochi and then hit few occasional boundaries to share a half-century partnership.
Kolkata skipper Gautam Gambhir introduced part-timer Yusuf Pathan into the attack in the 12th over. The burly Pathan proved his captain's decision right as he accounted for Klinger in his very first over.
He was caught by Iqbal Abdulla at deep midwicket. The Victoria batsman hit three fours in his 26-ball stay at the crease.Ravindra Jadeja (8), who has so far looked threatening in the tournament with his lusty blows in the end, failed to lived up to the reputation and departed early without troubling the scorers.
He was caught by Pathan at square leg off Rajat Bhatia. Jayawardene completed his half-century in the 19th over with a four towards point off Kallis. But a terrible mix-up with Hodge resulted in Sri Lankan's run out in the same over.
