Skipper Sourav Ganguly led from the front with an unbeaten knock of 86 as the Kolkata Knight Riders snatched a three-wicket win with two balls to spare against the Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match here, Sunday. Replying to the Kings XI's competitive score of 174 for 6, the Knight Riders reached their winning target of 175 for the loss of seven wickets in 19.4 overs in a nail-biting finish before a crowd of 30,000 at the Eden Gardens. Man of the match Umar Gul (24 off 11 balls), who also shone with the ball (4-23), turned the game upside down during a hurricane 49-run 7th-wicket stand with Ganguly after Kolkata seemed headed towards another defeat at 106-6. Ganguly hit half a dozen boundaries and an equal number of sixes during a 53-ball innings as Kolkata wrapped up its engagements with 12 points. Kings XI Punjab - 174 for 6 (Sangakkara 64, Marsh 40, Gul 4-23); Kolkata Knight Riders - 175 for 7 (Ganguly 86*, Gul 24). Bangalore wins The top order of the Bangalore Royal Challengers clicked at last as Rahul Dravid's men handed the Deccan Chargers a five-wicket beating in Hyderabad. With the win, Bangalore avoided the ignominy of finishing last in the IPL, while the Deccan Chargers could not avoid the wooden spoon. Chasing 166 for victory, Jacques Kallis (31), Misbah-ul-Haq (34), Dravid (31), Cameron White (31 not out) and B. Akhil (27 not out) came up with timely cameos as the side reached 171 for five in 19 overs. Earlier, Herschelle Gibbs (47) and Adam Gilchrist (47) gave a rollicking start but Deccan Chargers lost the plot towards the end and folded for 165 in exactly 20 overs. Deccan Chargers - 165 (Gibbs 47, Gilchrist 46, Y. Venugopal Rao 26; Vinay Kumar 3-27); Bangalore Royal Challengers - 171 for 5 (Misbah 34, Dravid 31, Kallis 31).
