Bangalore bow down to Balaji

Lakshmipathy Balaji's four wickets propelled Kolkata Knight Riders to a 42-run victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Knight Riders up and running after comfortable victory

Kolkata Knight Riders registered their first win of this season's Indian Premier League campaign after Lakshmipathy Balaji's four wickets propelled them to a 42-run victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers. Pace bowler Balaji took the key wickets of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to help restrict Bangalore to 123-9 after Kolkata had posted 165-8 in their 20 overs. Jacques Kallis (22) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (64 off 39) put on 60 for the first wicket for Kolkata, and Manvinder Bisla (46 off 29) continued their fine start but they then collapsed from 125-2 to 154-8. Kallis then shone with the ball, taking two of five early wickets as the Challengers fell to 33-5, with Balaji (4-18) bowling beautifully at the other end. Chris Gayle (2), Kohli (5) and De Villiers (10) all flopped, and it was left to Daniel Vettori (20) and Vinay Kumar (25) to achieve some respectability. It was Kolkata's first victory in three games so far, while Bangalore have won one and now lost one.