Kolkata Knight Riders knocked Kings XI Punjab off top spot in the 2017 Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens on Thursday. The Knight Riders were inspired by Gautam Gambhir, who was superb with the bat, while Sunil Narine excelled in both phases of the game.Kolkata finished 171/2 after holding the Kings XI to 170/9 in the T20 format.Here's what the points table looks like after Thursday's result:Here is the upcoming schedule:RecapThe Knight Riders limited Kings XI at the wicket thanks largely to a pair of outstanding bowling performances. First, Narine frustrated batsmen through four miserly overs, per ESPNCricinfo:Later, it was the turn of Umesh Yadav to send several wickets tumbling. The 29-year-old took out some heavy hitters for the Kings XI, includingAkshar Patel, who fell for a duck when trying to attack the first ball he faced from Yadav.Patel's wasn't the only key wicket to fall, though:Kolkata forced the Kings XI to settle for 170 from their innings. It was a modest total well within reach of the Knight Riders, who got started thanks to captainGambhir, who hit a quintet of fours off Sandeep and Ishant Sharma.The Knight Riders also received excellent work with the bat from Narine, who soon established a personal-best mark at the wicket, according to Cricbuzz:Narine couldn't muster much more, though. Instead, he fell when bowled by Varun Aaron. Still, Narine had found the boundary with some regularity before being forced to depart:Even without Narine, the Knight Riders were well on their way to reaching 171. Things improved further when Gambhir smashed another four in the sixth over, this one off Mohit Sharma.Kolkata sat at 95/1 midway through the seventh over. Gambhir andRobin Uthappa soon had the tally over a century and in double-quick time:However, Uthappa's wicket soon fell when Patel's delivery hit leg stump. Still, the Knight Riders remained in a commanding position at 116/2 halfway through the innings.Gambhir continued his excellent form by bringing up a well-deserved fifty on the sixth delivery of the 11th over. In the process, he helped Kolkata pad its total to 138/2 early in the 13th over.The Knight Riders eventually secured the total they needed when Manish Pandey smashed a six to seal the win.Now the onus will be on the Mumbai Indians to keep pace when they face Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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