Poor fielding cause of defeat: Ganguly

Mohali, May 3 (UNI) ''We did well to score 169 runs after struggling at 50 for 5 and bounced back into the game. However, poor fielding and conceding runs in the last overs led to our defeat in a close match," said Sourav Ganguly, captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, at a press conference after losing by nine runs to Kings XI Punjab in the DLF Indian Premier League at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here tonight.

In the last over bowled by Ishan Sharma, Kings XI Punjab batsman Piyush Chawla slammed him for three fours, one six and two which turned out to be the turning point of the match. With Irfan taking a bye run of the first ball of the 20th over, this over yielded 21 valuable runs.

Asked about the prospects of Kolkata entering semi-final, Sourav Ganguly said "any thing can happen as we have to play matches at home town.

Kings XI Punjab coach Tom Moody said "we batted well to post 178 for 6. However, plan execution at the end misfired and consequently, the match ended into a close finish." Irfan Pathan, who accompanied Moody at the press conference said "we were lucky to get wickets early in the innings." With Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan taking two wickets each, Kolkata Knight Riders were precariously placed at 29 for 4 before David Hussey (71) and WP Saha (not out 59) stemmed the rot and bolstered their innings with a 104-run partnership for the sixth wicket stand.

Replying to a question whether he would emerge as the highest wickettaker in the IPL, Irfan Pathan said "I am focusing that my team should win." UNI XC RC VP0142