Jayawardene ends Punjab's losing streak

Mahela Jaywardene smashed a brilliant 110 not out off just 59 balls to power the Kings XI Punjab to their second win of the tournament against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Chasing 201, Punjab romped home with 10 balls to spare. This was the third time in the IPL when a total in excess of 200 was chased down successfully by a team.
Chris Gayle's brutal 88 off 42 went in vain as Kolkata were stunned by a super 98-run partnership between Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara (38). The Lankan pair turned the game completely in Punjab's favour with some classy shots.
Jaywardene, who opened the batting, smashed 13 fours and three sixes to keep the Punjab chase on the track through out the second innings with his first IPL hundred.
Earlier, Gayle, once again started sedately, but cut loose just before the death overs to tear apart the Punjab bowlers. The West Indian batsman smashed eight sixes and six boundaries to post the highest score at the Eden Gardens in the IPL.
After electing to bat, the Knight Riders were off to a solid start with Sourav Ganguly and Gayle ensuring no early breakthroughs for Punjab. The Knight Riders skipper, who returned to form in the previous game with 88, was snared by Ravi Bopara for 36 off 31 balls. But Bopara's ecstasy did not last long as Gayle suddenly launched an explosive attack against him in the 13th over. The medium pacer conceded 33 runs, the most expensive over in the IPL, with Gayle smashing four sixes. The southpaw targetted the straight boundaries with the ball clearing the ropes comfortably on every occasion.
Gayle then smashed Piyush Chawla for two sixes in one over before skying one but as luck would have it, the bowler grassed the chance. However, the lapse did not prove too costly as Gayle holed out to Bopara off Juan Theron, who replaced Brett Lee in the line-up, in an attempt to hit consecutive sixes