Brendon McCullum’s boys did a fine job of initially restricting the King XI Punjab for a par total of 158 and then Chris Gayle brought out his big golf swing to put matters to rest at Kingsmead. With both the teams not having a winning start this crucial encounter was not just a battle on the field but a Bollywood face-off in the stands as both Shah Rukh Khan and Priety Zinta cheered their boys to the hilt. But at the end of the day it was King Khan who went home smiling as a rain curtailed match saw the blitz of Gayle end at 79/1 after 9.2 overs with the West Indian captain unbeaten on 44 off just 26 balls.

The initial attack of the Punjab dudes looked potent and decisive with Irfan Pathan getting a promotion to number 3 and opening his shoulders up for a quick fire 32in just 17 balls. But it was the prince of Kolkata who stuck back with twin blows in a single over to dismiss both Irfan and Ravi Bopara and bring cheer to an off-late sulking Bengal. With Yuvraj’s brilliance curtailed to a flash and the others failing to step on the gas, what looked at one point to be a total heading for the 180-mark fell 20-odd runs short.

That still looked like a very competent total before Chris Gayle decided to make a mockery out of the short boundaries and Punjab’s weak bowling attack as he dished out some brutal strokes. You would normally say that he sent the fielders on leather hunt, but this was more a sky-watching camp with the ball sailing way back into the stands. Before the rain gods stepped in to stop the massacre, the match seemed to be done and trashed thanks to the Caribbean captain. Kolkata just sprung back to life!