20 May 2008 - Eden Gardens, Kolkata : Kolkata Knight Riders would have been hoping revenge and keeping their semi-final hope alive; but Rajasthan Royals ensured that neither happen. Having set a modest target of 148 and having the visitors on the mat at 69/4, the home team would have certainly fancied their chances of a much-needed win. However, Yusuf Pathan had other plans as he blasted an unbeaten 48 off just 18 deliveries.

Put into bat, KKR had an early setback as Munaf Patel saw the back of Hafeez in his opening wicket-maiden over. Salman Butt and Sourav Ganguly looked to resurrect the innings but Patel came back and knocked off Butt in the seventh over of the innings. Ganguly then looked to get the momentum going for KKR as he took on Warne and lofted him out for six. Warne then bought on Yusuf Pathan who struck gold with his fifth ball by bowling out Hussey. Warne never allowed the batsmen to settle as he frequently shuffled the bowlers.

With Ganguly holding out to long-on off Trivedi, KKR seemed to be struggling. However, local lad Debabrata Das played a valuable knock towards the end with the tail providing useful contributions. Tanvir dropped a sitter off Watson but made amends as he cleaned up the tail to end with 3/26. Needing 148, RR looked good for a comfortable win.

The in-form opening duo could not carry on the momentum as Asnodkar perished early. Warne pulled a surprise by promoting Tanvir, who did not disappoint by hitting Agarkar for a four and following it up with a six! At 42/1 off 5 overs, RR seemed on song! However, Gul had other plans; he got Tanvir and Smith in the same over and RR seemed to then struggle at 42/3 off 6 overs.

Watson then joined Kaif and looked to continue the aggression before being bowled off the bowling of Ganguly. At 69/4 at the end of the tenth over, the match seemed to have been wide open. Yusuf Pathan started his innings with the usually flamboyance and was lucky to escape with a few streaky shots. Fortune favours the brave and the best form of defence is attack – and Pathan did just that. After the initial inside edges, he struck the ball beautifully, and changed the complexion of the game when he lofted Ganguly for successive massive sixes.

Later, Kaif joined the act as he smashed Dinda for three successive boundaries. Kaif played a good innings, which will certainly give him an RR a booster for the future matches. It was fitting that Pathan completed the formalities of the win; he smashed Gul for two successive boundaries and then slammed him for a six. RR won with six-wickets with 21 balls to spare.

Pathan, for his all-round performance – 1/14 (2 overs) and unbeaten 48 off 18-balls, bagged his third man-of-the-match award. With the win, Rajasthan Royals continue to sit pretty on the top spot of the league standings with 18 points, and have cemented their place in the semi-finals.