Skipper Sourav Ganguly's fighting half century went in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders succumbed to their third consecutive defeat, going down by 45 runs to Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Thursday.
Chasing 197 for victory, Knight Riders were bundled out for 151 in 19.1 overs. Ganguly's 51 and David Hussey's 30-ball 42 were the only high points of yet another dismal batting performance by the Kolkata team.
The Jaipur team's trio of Shane Watson (2/22), Sohail Tanvir (2/30) and Siddharth Trivedi (2/31) never let the Kolkatans settle down.
The visitors also had some poor running between the wickets to blame for their dismal showing as three of their batsmen were run-out in the match, which marked their third successive loss after reverses against Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.
Pakistan's Salman Butt opened the innings for Knight Riders in the absence of New Zealand's Brendon McCullum but could hardly get a look in as Tanvir castled him for seven in the second over.
Ajit Agarkar did not last long either and became Jaipur skipper Shane Warne's only victim of the match after hitting a couple of sixes in his 13-ball 20.
Ganguly held the other end, but with wickets tumbling around him, the asking rate kept climbing, adding to the pressure on the left-hander.
Ricky Ponting's replacement, Brad Hodge, was run-out after adding just one run to the team's score and it was left to Hussey to rebuild the innings after Ganguly too departed with the score at 119.
Ganguly's knock included four boundaries and a couple of sixes.
- IPL: Points | Schedule | Match reports, scorecards & pics
Hussey, however, could not find an able partner at the other end to build the innings.
Earlier, Swapnil Asnodkar and Yousuf Pathan slammed blazing fifties to guide Rajasthan Royals to 196 for seven.
Asnodkar scored a 34-ball 60, that included ten fours and a six, Pathan was out after scoring 55 off 33 balls, studded with six fours and a couple of sixes.
Royals were dealt an early blow when Graeme Smith (2) departed in the second over of the innings, bowled by Ishant Sharma.
Mohammad Kaif, the next man in, too did not last long. After a whirlwind 21-run knock that included three fours and a six, he was caught by David Hussey off Umar Gul's bowling.
However, Asnodkar and Yousuf scored briskly to help the Royals to a healthy total.
Although Shane Watson couldn't contribute -- he was trapped leg before by Gul for a naught -- Ravindra Jadeja's quickfire 33 of 19 balls boosted the Royals' total. Jadeja was bowled by Laxmi Ratan Shukla after striking three fours and a six.
