WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF FUNNNNN………….

Kolkata Knight Riders finished as the second-placed team in the group stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as they beat Pune Warriors by 34runs at the Subroto Roy Sahara Stadium here tonight andcruised into the play-offs.

Knight Riders will now play toppers Delhi in the Qualifier 1 while Mumbai Indians will face either defending Chennai Super Kings or Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator.

The win was also Knight Riders’ second in the season against Pune Warriors, having beaten them in the much-hyped home-leg by seven runs as well.

For Pune, the curtains came down on their second season on a dismal note as they finished eighth with just four wins and 12 losses from 16 matches.

On a difficult track to bat, Pune raised hopes after restricting Kolkata Knight Riders to a modest 136 for four in 20 overs. Shakib Al Hasan was the top scorer with 42 while Brendan McCullum made 41 after skipper Gautam Gambhir opted to bat first.

Chasing 137, Pune Warriors performed miserably, losing batsmen at regular intervals and finished at 102 for eight in 20 overs. Jesse Ryder was the top scorer with 22.

Knight Riders’ slow bowlers troubled the Pune Warriors batsmen, denying them room to free their arms. Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan bagged two, including the prized scalp of Warriors skipper Sourav Gamguly (5), and gave away just 18 runs from his four overs.

The former Bangladesh captain was also adjudged as Man of the Match for his all-round show.

Yusuf Pathan also bagged two for 12 while West Indies’ mystery spinner Sunil Narine was again at his miserly best, giving away just 15 runs for one wicket from his four overs.

An elated Knight Riders skipper Gambhir said: “We wanted to finish in the top two, we play Delhi now and helps us two cracks. We were discussing before this game to treat this as the quarter-finals and win the next three matches to win the IPL.”

A dejected Ganguly said: “It has been a tough season, young franchise, struggled with the pitch, the toss played its part, need to deal with it and get better. We need to get away from this, allow the boys to get away from wherever they are, no point in having post-mortems straightaway, lot of things to do, get the right side. Haven’t thought about my own plans.”

In what would have been an easy chase, considering the likes of Sehwag and Warner in their ranks, Delhi batsmen had to sweat hard before registering a five-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab, with an over to spare, in an Indian Premier League match on Tuesday. This win led to their qualification for the play-offs.

Needing 11 runs from the last 12 balls for victory at the Feroze Shah Kotla, Mahela Jayawardene finished off the proceedings in the 19th over byscoring three consecutive fours and completing a match-winning 49-ball 56 in the process.

The famed opening pair of Sehwag and Warner got off to an explosive start amassing 21 runs at the end of two overs. The partnership broke in the first ball of the third over when Praveen Kumar sent back Warner, who managed a top-edge off a short length wide delivery and handed Mahmood an easy catch at gully. Hussey brought in Awana and the move paid off as he bowled Sehwag (8) in his very first ball. He went on to add two more to his tally when he removed Y Venugopal Rao and Ross Taylor in his second over. It was then the Punjab outfit started to dream of another thrilling win and keep themselves in the hunt for the play-offs.

But Jayawardene teamed up with Naman Ojha and built a crucial 58-run 5th wicket partnership. After a productive first half, Hussey ran out of resources in the second part and Ojha and Jayawardene took advantage of this to turn the tide in their favour. With Mahela Jayawardene on the crease even when wickets fell at the other end, a victory for Delhi was never out of sight. By the time they lost Ojha, Delhi were 42 runs short of victory with Jayawardene and Irfan Pathan on the field.

After the completion of Punjab’s innings, it was job half done for the Delhi outfit. The hosts were fortunate to get everything right from the beginning, barring the toss. Punjab chose to bat on a decent batting track but superb bowling from Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron made sure Punjab batsmen never settled on the crease.

Marsh slammed three boundaries in Venugopal Rao’s first over to give them a good start. However, Aaron put a stop to the Aussie’s innings in the fourth over. He gave a simple catch to Naman Ojha after edging behind a good length ball from Aaron, who bowled it round the wicket. He went on to remove Mandeep Singh, who looked dangerous on 12-ball 21, thanks to a brilliant effort from Sehwag on the field. From there on, Delhi’s bowlers never allowed them to settle, taking wickets at regular intervals. Umesh (4-0-21-3) and Aaron (4-0-19-2) stood out from the pack. Umesh’s exploits earned him the Man of the Match award. However, Punjab captain David Hussey stood tall amid the ruins and topped their run scorers chart with a 35-ball 40. He ensured Punjab a total of 136 with the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

Kolkata Knight Riders entrapped Mumbai Indians in a web of deceit as ‘mystery’ spinner Sunil Narine weaved for them a 32-run win at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

Kolkata were sent in to bat and struggled to 140-7 in their allocated quota, after which they scuppered Mumbai’s chase with regular wickets. The star performer for Shahrukh Khan’s franchise was young Narine, who proved impossible to read even for the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, and ended with match figures of four for 15. He was supported admirably, for once, by Lakshmipathy Balaji, who took two for 11 from four tight overs.

The win lifted KKR to the second spot on the table with 19 points – one behind league leaders Delhi Daredevils, a place in the play-offs now written in stone. For this most pleasing result, KKR should thank their bowlers.

Chasing an apparently innocuous 141, Mumbai lost Herschelle Gibbs early – leg-before to Iqbal Abdullah – and were stupefied when Narine got a searing off-break to clatter into Tendulkar’s stumps. Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu, victims of frank indiscretion, followed soon after, and when Kieron Pollard was caught behind off a short Jacques Kallis delivery, Mumbai were in freefall.

They lost their last six wickets for 12 runs, as Narine lured Harbhajan Singh with a delivery that spun away, and Rohit Sharma with one that straightened. Nobody displayed the stomach to hang around, and KKR romped home when R.P. Singh hoicked Narine to deep mid-wicket, where he was caught by Abdullah, as Mumbai folded for 108 in the 20th over.

Kolkata, however, had begun the match disastrously. They were jolted by an abominable leg-before decision and an R.P. Singh ripper as they lost two key batsmen in the second over of the first innings, after Mumbai elected to field.

On a wicket not quite conducive to shot-making, the visitors were pegged back by the early double blow, and although Manoj Tiwary attempted a restructuring of the innings, Kolkata had to satisfy themselves with a total – their lowest of the season – that seemed insufficient against the might of Mumbai’s batting.

R.P. Singh made early inroads and his first success was more fortuitous that anything else. Opener Brendon McCullum charged down the pitch and was struck on the pads. The ball had pitched outside leg, the batsman too was a mile out of the crease, yet umpire Subroto Das raised his finger for a horrendous decision, sending the disappointed New Zealander on his way.

On the next ball, R.P. knocked back Kallis’ off stump, putting Kolkata in a right spot with two wickets down in the second over. Gautam Gambhir, the man in form, also struggled for runs. He was handed two reprieves – by the wicketkeeper and by Tendulkar – and was finally bowled by Kieron Pollard on 27.

Manoj Tiwary hung around, interspersing a rash of singles with a couple of fours and sixes, and was out after scoring 41. Yusuf Pathan did precious little to salvage his poor season. The burly hitter was handed a quasi ‘life’ when he was caught off an R.P. Singh no-ball, but could not build on it, finishing with a laborious unbeaten 21.