GAUTAM Gambhir led his Kolkata Knight Riders to a five-wicket win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings to go within a point of the Indian Premier League summit yesterday. Chennai made 139 for five after opting to bat first, but saw their total overhauled with two balls remaining, with Gambhir’s 63 in 52 deliveries being decisive.
Suresh Raina top-scored for Chennai with 44 in 34 balls, with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni making an unflashy 34 not out in support as the dependable Jacques Kallis returned two for 21 in his four-over allocation, while there were also wickets for Sunil Narine and Brett Lee.
Ravichandran Ashwin did his best to get stuck into the Knight Riders, removing opener Brendon McCullum for two and returning to see off the dangerous Yusuf Pathan.
Dwayne Bravo also took two wickets but Gambhir kept Kolkata in touch throughout, with Kallis being the next highest scorer with 26 but it was left to Debabrata Das to hit the winning boundary off the fourth ball of the final over.