IPL 7 T20 Final KKR vs KXIP: Kolkata are CHAMPIONS for second time

Kolkata Knight Riders have beaten Kings XI Punjab after a nail-biting finish in the IPL 7 final at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday night to emerge champions for the second time in three years.

In a heart-stopping thriller which contained all the ingredients of a Bollywood blockbuster, Shah Rukh Khan's KKR denied Preity Zinta's KXIP a maiden triumph.

Chasing a stiff target of 200, Kolkata were propelled by a magnificent half century by Manish Pandey (94 off 50 balls) to make 200-7 in 19.3 overs.

It was the ninth successive win by KKR which is the most by any team in IPL.

Despite losing the in-form Uthappa cheaply, KKR were always ahead of the asking rate with skipper Gambhir (23) leading the way.

Yusuf Pathan bludgeoned four sixes in a 22-ball cameo of 36 and Chawla held his nerve at the end to hammer a six off Johnson and crack the winning boundary.

However, it was Pandey who kept in the hunt with a matchwinning half century which was studded with seven boundaries and six sixes.

Left arm spinner Patel bowled an excellent spell of 4-0-21-0 while leg spinner Karanveer Singh purchased four wickets for 54.

Johnson finished with two for 41 while Balaji (0-41) and Awana (0-43) went for plenty.

Earlier, a brilliant unbeaten century by Wriddhiman Saha (115 off 55 balls), the first in an IPL final, lifted KXIP to 199-4 after being put into bat.

King's XI Punjab plundered 141 in the last 10 overs.

Saha's knock was studded with 10 four and eight sixes displaying shot all around the wicket and crucially finding the gaps with ease.

He came in whek KXIP were reeling at 30-2 in 5.1 overs after the fall of Sehwag and Bailey in quick succession.

After a cautious start, Saha opened out to flay the Kolkata bowlers in tandem with opener Manan Vohra (67) who shared in an enterprising 129-run stand for the third wicket.

Vohra cracked six boundaries and two boundaries in his important contribution.

Chawla claimed two for 44 including that of Maxwell for a duck.

No bowler was spared with Morkel going for 40 while Narine who picked up a wicket with his first ball was the most expensive conceding 46 runs in his four overs.

Man of the match Pandey said at the post-match presentation that winning the IPL was the "cherry on the cake" after having won the Ranji Trophy, Irani and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

The catch of the season award went to Kieron Pollard for his catch of Kevon Cooper.

Glenn Maxwell won an award for the maximum sixes for the season and was also adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Akshar Patel won the Emerging Player award.

"It feels proud to be emerging player among these international stars. I stick to my basics and stick to my plan. I think at first, I thought myself as a batting all-rounder but after this performance I consider myself as a bowling all-rounder," said Patel.

Orange Cap holder Robin Uthappa said: "I am really happy that I was able to contribute to team's success. I played with an injured toe against Mumbai Indians and that innings stands out for me as I broke the physical barrier that day."

It is the first time in IPL history that the Orange Cap holder's team went onto win the season.

Chennai Super Kings won the Fair Play award, which was collected by Purple Cap holder Mohit Sharma who said: "I bowled a lot in the slog overs this season. I learned a lot. I've discovered more weaknesses than strengths, so I'll work on those ahead of the next season."

"We got a special bunch of guys, we've had a wonderful tournament, and our guys can hold their heads high," said losing KXIP captain George Bailey.

The victorious KKR skipper Gambhir hailed the fighting spirit of the team.

"Where we were after first seven games, not many people thought we would be here. They absorbed a lot of pressure, a lot of credit needs to go to the team," he said.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS INNINGS

Chawla carves a full toss from Awana through the covers for a boundary for the winning hit as Kolkata win by three wickets and three balls to spare.

Narine scrambles for single. KKR need 4 from 4.

Awana bowls a yorker to Narine off the first ball. KKR need 5 from 5 balls.

Chawla pulls a short one from Johnson for a six over square leg. KKR 195-7 in 19 overs and need 5 from 6 balls.

Johnson strikes as Yadav holes out to Vohra in the deep. KKR 187-7 in 18.2 overs.

Suryakumar Yadav c Vohra b Johnson 5 (6b 0x4 0x6)

KKR are 185-6 in 18 overs and need 15 off 12.

Patel completes an excellent spell returning figures of 4-0- 21-0.

Karanveer picks up the crucial wicket of Pandey. KKR 179-6 in 17 overs.

Manish Pandey c Bailey b Karanveer Singh 94 (50b 7x4 6x6)

Pandey continues to bludgeons Karanveer for another six but ten Doeshcate hits straight down the throat of Miller. KKR 168-5 n 16.3 overs.

Ryan ten Doeschate c Miller b Karanveer Singh 4 (3b 1x4 0x6)

Ryan ten Doeschate gets a boundary off Patel to finish an eventful over. KKR 161-4 in 16 overs.

Shakib is run out by another brilliant piece of fielding from Bailey. KKR 156-4 in 15.4 overs.

Shakib Al Hasan run out 12 (7b 2x4 0x6)

Shakib scoops Johnson to fine leg for a boundary. KKR 151-3 in 15 overs.

Pandey hammers a six and a boundary off Karanveer who goes for 14 despite taking the wicket of Pathan. KKR 142-3 in 14 overs.

Karanveer strikes as Pathan self destructs with Maxwell taking a good catch in the boundary. KKR 130-3 in 13.3 overs.

Yusuf Pathan c Maxwell b Karanveer Singh 36 (22b 0x4 4x6)

Balaji goes for 18 as Pathan bludgeons him over square leg and long-on for a couple of sixes. KKR 128-2 in 13 overs.

Pandey survives with Bailey making a valiant effort to hod onto a leading edge. KKR 110-2 in 12 overs.

Awana goes for 19 as Pathan finishes with a flat six over midwicket. KKR 107-2 in 11 overs.

Pandey thumps a boundary and smashes Awana for a six to reach his half century off just 31 balls.

Patel bowls an excellent conceding just two runs but Kolkata have their noses in front at the halfway stage. KKR 89-2 in 10 overs.

Pathan clubs two consecutive sixes off Karanveer as the leg spinner courageously flights the ball. KKR 87-2 in 9 overs.

Pandey pulls Balaji over midwicket for a boundary. KKR 73-2 in 8 overs.

Pandey smashes Karanveer inside out over extra cover for a maximum. KKR 67-2 in 7 overs.

Gambhir virtually throws his wicket attempting to launch the first ball from leg spinner Karanveer into space for Miller to hold onto a skier. KKR 59-2 in 6.1 overs.

Gautam Gambhir c Miller b Karanveer Singh 23 (17b 3x4 0x6)

Kolkata get some useful runs via an overthrow boundary and they have got off to a flying start despite the loss of Uthappa. KKR 59-1 in 6 overs.

Pandey lofts Balaji over the umpire for a boundary. KKR 48-1 in 5 overs.

Pandey whips Awana uppishly to midwicket for his first boundary. KKR 40-1 in 4 overs.

Gambhir cracks Johnson for a boundaries through point. KKR 31-1 in 3 overs.

Gambhir drives the first ball from Balaji through the cover for a boundary. KKR 19-1 in 2 overs.

Pandey whips the first ball from Johnson to the midwicket fence. KKR 10-1 in 1 over.

Johnson draws first blood getting the prized wicket of Uthappa who chases a wide delivery to scoop it to the point fielder. KKR 6-1 in 0.4 overs.

Robin Uthappa c Patel b Johnson 5 (3b 1x4 0x6)

Uthappa drives the first ball from Johnson through the covers for a boundary to set Kolkata on their way.

KINGS XI PUNJAB INNINGS

Saha smashes two more boundaries as Punjab finish with a flourish.

Saha reaches his century off 49 balls with a second six off the over from Narine which goes for 17. KXIP 187-4 in 19 overs.

Maxwell is out first ball attempting a reverse sweep off Chawla and failing to clear Morkel. KXIP 170-4 in 18 overs.

Glenn Maxwell c Morkel b Chawla 0 (1b 0x4 0x6)

Saha is playing a gem of an innings finding the gaps at will smashing a couple of boundaries off Chawla.

Vohra is second time unlucky as Chawla hangs on to a skier off his own bowling after a bit of juggle and tumble. KXIP 159-3 in 17.1 overs.

Manan Vohra c and b Chawla 67 (52b 6x4 2x6)

Another massive over for Punjab as Yadav goes for 19 with Saha cracking a couple of boundaries and then clubbing a straight six. KXIP 159-2 in 17 overs.

Vohra returns to smash a boundary off Narine. KXIP 140-2 in 16 overs.

Narine drops a skier from Saha off his own bowling and Vohra survives after being stumped by Uthappa with replays showing he had collected the ball in front of the stumps and signalled a no-ball. 

Saha hooks Morkel for a six over fine leg as they put on 101 runs off just 59 balls. KXIP 130-2 in 15 overs.

Vohra takes Morkel to the cleaners slicing over backward point for a six followed by a boundary.

Saha and Vohra have upped the ante setting the stage for an assault in the final overs by Maxwell and Miller.

Narine goes for 19 in his second over with Saha racing to his 50 off just 29 balls smashing a six and boundary off consecutive balls while Vohra also slams a boundary to reach his half century. KXIP 111-2 in 14 overs.

Vohra gets a boundary to third man off Shakib with the ball trickling to the fence after beating the fielder. KXIP 92-2 in 13 overs.

Saha steps out and slams Chawla for two consecutive sixes over long-off to bring up the 50-run partnership for the third wicket. KXIP 82-2 in 12 overs.

Saha is looking to up the ante attempting a reverse sweep and missing but finding the middle of the blade by pulling Shakib over midwicket for a six. KXIP 67-2 in 11 overs.

Good comeback over by Chawla. Is the pressure of playing in a final getting into Punjab at the halfway stage. KXIP 58-2 in 10 overs.

Shakib bowls a tidy over conceding just four runs as the strategic time-out is taken. KXIP 54-2 in 9 overs.

Chawla goes for 14 in his first over with being swept for a boundary by Saha while Vohra sends him sailing over midwicket for the first maximum of the match. KXIP 50-2 in 8 overs.

Excellent start from Shakib as well as Punjab attempt to rebuild their innings. KXIP 36-2 in 7 overs.

Punjab have been put on the back foot after an excellent opening over by Narine. KXIP 32-2 in 6 overs.

Narine strikes with his first delivery castling Bailey who moved across and is bowled round his legs. KXIP 30-2 in 5.1 overs.

George Bailey b Narine 1 (2b 0x4 0x6)

Vohra continues to play aggressively taking the aerial route but not finding the boundary. KXIP 30-1 in 5 overs.

Skipper Bailey promotes himself to steady the innings after the early dismissal of Sehwag. KXIP 24-1 in 4 overs.

Big blow for Punjab as Sehwag miscues an attempted pull shot with Gambhir at mid-off taking a well-judged skier. KXIP 23-1 in 3.4 overs.

Virender Sehwag c Gambhir b Umesh Yadav 7 (10b 1x4 0x6)

Vohra cracks Morkel virtually whipping to midwicket for a delightful boundary. KXIP 21-0 in 3 overs.

Sehwag breaks the shackles by driving Yadav back down the ground for his first boundary. KXIP 15-0 in 2 overs.

Vohra hits the first boundary of the match edging Morkel to third man. KXIP 9-0 in 1 over.

Sehwag is winding up as he walk to the middle as the Punjab fans egg him to play another great knock.

The teams have lined up for the National anthem.

Teams who have batted first in the IPL Final have won four times on the last six occasions.

IPL founder Lalit Modi has decided to don both his caps since both SRK and Preity Zinta are his friends.

Punjab have opted for the experience of Balaji in place of Sandeep Sharma while Kolkata are unchanged.

PLAYING XI

Kolkata: Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav

Punjab: Virender Sehwag, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, George Bailey, Akshar Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Laxmipathy Balaji, Karanveer Singh, Parvinder Awana

Kolkata have won the toss and invited Punjab to take first lease of the wicket.

Kolkata have been there before having emerged champions in 2012 while Punjab will be playing in their first ever IPL final.

Even the television commentators Harsha Bogle, Mbangwe, Danny Morrison, Ravi Shastri and Rameez Raja are decked up for the occasion.

We are just 15 minutes away from the toss and packed house at Chinnaswamy Stadium is already going insane.

Daniel Vettori (RCB in 2011) is the only foreign captain to lose an IPL final, according to stats guru Mohandas Menon.

So another plus factor for Punjab's Australian skipper George Bailey.

Shane Warne (RR in 2008) and Adam Gilchrist (DC in 2009) are the only two foreign players to lead a team to an IPL title win.

Sanjay Bangar (KXIP) could become the first Indian to coach an IPL winning side.

PREVIEW

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will eye their maiden title and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) their second in three years when the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 7) reaches a climax at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday.

The gruelling two-month long competition held across the UAE and India will see the top two teams fittingly battling it out for the plum for one final time.

With both teams having Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan (KKR) and Preity Zinta (KXIP) as co-owners, the stage is set for an entertaining finale of glitz and drama normally associated with IPL.

Punjab have been by far the most exciting team this season playing an attractive brand of cricket to perch themselves on the top of the table.

The only unbeaten team in the UAE leg of IPL 7, KXIP finished the league season with the most wins and were the first team to seal a place in the Playoffs.

The table toppers showed great character to bounce back from losing to KKR in Qualifier 1 to blast a record 226 thanks to a magnificent century by Virender Sehwag to hold their nerve after Suresh Raina's onslaught to beat Chennai Super Kings in a virtual semifinal.

KXIP will be aiming to create history since no team that has topped the table at the end of the league stage has gone on to win the IPL title since the Rajasthan Royals did it in the inaugural season, in 2008.

However, KKR hold the edge in head-to-head clashes with Punjab in the IPL having eight wins from 14 meetings so far.

Even this season, KXIP won the first contest between the two teams in Abu Dhabi, while KKR came back strongly to win in Cuttack.

Former champions KKR also got the better of KXIP in the first of the Playoff matches to sail through to the Final.

Kolkata are on an incredible run of eight consecutive wins despite a circumspect start to their campaign.

It has been a spectacular turnaround for a team that suffered an agonising loss to Rajasthan Royals in a Super-Over finish and an unexpected batting collapse in a fairly straightforward run-chase vs KXIP.

This was before catapulting into second spot thanks to Yusuf Pathan who sent the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers on a leather hunt, smashing the fastest ever IPL fifty by scoring 72 off 22 balls.

It had also much to do with the prolific form of Robin Uthappa who has slammed 655 runs from 15 games for the Knight Riders to don the Orange Cap. His rich vein of form included a record ten successive scores of over 40.

Kolkata skipper Gautam Gambhir will be buoyed by his recall to the Indian team making solid contributions at the top after struggling with form early on.

Punjab's Australia T20 captain George Bailey will have everything going for him leading by example on the field as exemplified in the Eliminator against CSK to deny World Cup winning India captain MS Dhoni another crack at the IPL crown.

However, all eyes will be on former India opener Sehwag whose power-packed 58-ball 122 fired KXIP to their first-ever IPL final.

KXIP will also pin their hopes on Glenn Maxwell and David Miller apart from young Indian guns Manan vohra and Wriddhiman Saha.

Maxwell had an explosive start to the season but has not scored another half-century since his blazing 90 against Chennai Super Kings.

Whereas South African Morne Morkel has spearheaded Kolkata's attack, Sunil Narine who chose KKR over the West Indian Test side in order to be available for the IPL final will be determined to deliver the goods.

Punjab must be concerned after Suresh Raina tore apart their attack comprising Australian Mitchell Johnson, Sandeep Sharma and Parvinder Awana.

Bowling is their Achilles Heel though emerging spinner Akshar Patel could have a few aces up his sleeve.

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