KKR defeats Hobart to storm into CLT20 final

Hyderabad, Oct 2 (IANS) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) stormed into the final of Oppo Champions League T20 tournament by beating Hobart Hurricanes by seven wickets at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here Thursday.

After restricting Hurricanes to 140 with its quality spin bowling in the first semifinal of tournament, the Kolkata team chased down the target with five balls to spare as Jacques Kallis hoisted Bollinger to six to seal yet another victory.

Kallis remained unbeaten on 54 (40b, 4x4,2x6) and was adjudged man-of-the-match. His 63-run partnership for third wicket with Manish Pandey and unbeaten 34-run stand with Yusuf Pathan helped KKR to extend their winning streak to 14 matches.

Pandey struck six boundaries and a six in his 32-ball 40 to steer the team after the openers had returned to the pavilion at 44 in the eighth over.

KKR, which remained unbeaten in this tournament, will meet Chennai Super Kings or Kings XI Punjab in the final in Bangalore on Saturday.

Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, Hurricanes set a respectable target thanks to Shoaib Malik's unbeaten 66 off 46 deliveries that include four boundaries and four hits over the fence.

The Pakistani steered the Australian side after its top order collapsed. Malik, who is married to Indian tennis star from this city Sania Mirza, played some aggressive shots much to the delight of holiday crowd.

Malik scored 21 runs including two fours and two sixes in the 19th over to lift the Hobart innings. Before this over, Kuldeep Yadav had conceded only 10 runs in three overs and had claimed a wicket.

Andre Russel drew the first blood for KKR in his very first hour and the second of the inning when he dived to hold on D.P. Michael.

Hobart received a huge setback in the very next over as its most successful batsman in the tournament Blizzard was trapped leg before off Yusuf Pathan. He too returned to pavilion without opening his account.

Ben Dunk, who looked solid when he hit three boundaries in an over by Russel, did not last long as he could not control his aggression and handed over a simple catch to Gambhir off Kuldeep Yadav. Dunk hit four boundaries and a six in his 29-ball 39.

Sunil Narine, who was reported for suspected illegal action in the last match, gave 24 runs in his four overs and claimed a wicket. Pathan and Russel shared the same bowling figures.