World Of Sports

Kings XI Punjab made it four wins in a row in the Indian Premier League with a nine-run success over the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Contributions from several of the top order helped the Kings XI post a competitive total of 178-6 in front of their own fans in Mohali.

The Knight Riders would have had high hopes of chasing down such a target but they suffered a batting collapse in the opening overs of their reply.

Although a sixth-wicket century partnership between David Hussey and Prasanta Saha gave them hope, the early damage proved too much.

Batting depth

Opener Shaun Marsh top-scored with 40 from 32 balls for the Kings XI before he was stumped off the bowling of fellow Australian Hussey.

Skipper Yuvraj Singh smashed 17 in a rush before becoming one of several wickets to fall in the middle overs, the home side slumping from 82-1 to 106-5.

Kumar Sangakkara, who had been forced to retire hurt earlier on following an awkward swing at a delivery, came back in at a crucial time to contribute 28.

The Sri Lankan shared a stand of 49 with Irfan Pathan (24 not out) before Piyush Chawla gave the innings some late momentum by smacking three fours and a six in his seven-ball stay at the crease that yielded 21 runs.

Top-order collapse

The Knight Riders' reply got off to a fast start with 22 coming off the first 16 balls before skipper Sourav Ganguly was dismissed by international colleague Sreesanth.

From then on the innings fell apart in a hurry, Mohammad Hafeez going just one run later at the start of the third over when he was bowled.

Pathan followed up his dismissal of the Pakistan all-rounder by trapping Australian Brad Hodge leg before for just a single.

In between Sreesanth claimed his second wicket when Yuvraj held on to a catch off Debabrata Das, meaning Kolkata had lost four wickets for just seven runs.

Laxmi Shukla fell with the score on 50 but Hussey and Saha, who made 59 not out, managed to restore some pride with a partnership of 104.

Despite the best efforts of the pair they were unable to keep up with the required run rate, the Knight Riders finishing nine runs short.