Ganguly Ends IPL with a win ..

Sourav Ganguly's Kolkata Knight Riders finally gave their home fans something to cheer about by ending their Indian Premier League campaign with a thrilling three-wicket win over semi-finalists Kings XI Punjab.

With the visitors having already clinched a semis berth and the hosts out of contention, there was little resting on the match for either side.

Punjab will nevertheless have fancied its chances of victory after posting 6-174 - until then the highest IPL total at Eden Gardens - from its 20 overs.

But the Knight Riders - inspired by a brilliant unbeaten knock of 86 from 53 balls by captain Ganguly - had other ideas and stormed back to pick up their sixth win of the tournament in their 14th and final match.

Kings XI captain Yuvraj Singh won the toss and opted to bat first, with Kumar Sangakkara and Shaun Marsh leading the way for the visitors with scores of 64 and 40 respectively and Yuvraj himself contributing 27 before being run out.

James Hopes was dropped on 10 by Umar Gul at third man off the bowling of Ishant Sharma but the error did not prove costly as Gul made amends shortly afterwards to trap the opener leg before wicket for 13.

Marsh and Sangakkara shared an 83-run partnership for the second wicket which came to an end when the former smashed IPL debutant Ajantha Mendis to Aakash Chopra at long-off.

Sangakkara's fourth IPL half-century came off 37 balls before he fell lbw to man-of-the-match Gul playing across the line.

Yuvraj was put down on eight - again off Ishant - by India colleague Ganguly at deep mid-wicket after a collision with Chopra. He went on to make a typically breezy 27 from 18 balls but was run out in the 19th over by Wriddhiman Saha.

Irfan Pathan (seven) and Piyush Chawla (nought) perished to successive Gul deliveries in the final over as the Kings XI finished on 174 from their 20 overs.

The home team - Ganguly apart - struggled to stick around for long but Salman Butt, Gul (both 24), Saha (13) and David Hussey (12) at least reached double figures while the skipper prospered at the other end.

Despite having Kolkata reeling on 6-106 midway through the 16th over, however, Punjab was unable to finish the job off and was made to pay with Ganguly carrying his bat in style.

The opener's six with the third ball of the final over brought the hosts level and he sealed matters with the next delivery to see his team home with two balls to spare.

Kings XI Punjab
Marsh c Chopra b Mendis 40 (31)
Hopes lbw b Umar Gul 13 (10)
Sangakkara lbw b Umar Gul 64 (45)
Singh run out (Saha) 27 (18)
Jayawardene not out 11 (10)
Pathan b Umar Gul 7 (4)
Chawla b Umar Gul 0 (1)
Srivastava not out 1 (1)
Extras (lb 1, w 10) 11
Total 174 (6 wickets; 20 overs)
FoW: 1-24 (Hopes, 3.1 ov), 2-107 (Marsh, 12.4 ov), 3-133 (Sangakkara, 14.6 ov), 4-164 (Yuvraj Singh, 18.2 ov), 5-173 (Pathan, 19.4 ov), 6-173 (Chawla, 19.5 ov)

Bowling
Gul 4-0-23-4 (2w)
Sharma 4-0-49-0 (3w)
Mendis 4-0-24-1
Dinda 2-0-18-0
Hussey 4-0-36-0
Shukla 2-0-23-0

Kolkata Knight Riders
Ganguly not out 86 (53)
Butt c Srivastava b Sreesanth 24 (19)
Das lbw b Sreesanth 0 (1)
Hussey b Chawla 12 (11)
Shukla b Singh 5 (4)
Saha c Pathan b Chawla 13 (15)
Chopra c Sangakkara b Hopes 2 (3)
Gul c Powar b Singh 24 (11)
Sharma not out 0 (1)
Extras (lb 5, w 4) 9
Total 175 (7 wickets; 19.4 overs)
FoW: 1-45 (Salman Butt, 5.2 ov), 2-45 (Das, 5.3 ov), 3-62 (Hussey, 8.4 ov), 4-70 (Shukla, 9.5 ov), 5-102 (Saha, 14.4 ov), 6-106 (Chopra, 15.3 ov), 7-155 (Umar Gul, 18.3 ov)

Bowling
Pathan 3.4-0-36-0 (1w)
Sreesanth 4-0-33-2
Powar 2-0-14-0 (1w)
Singh 4-0-28-2 (2w)
Chawla 4-0-36-2
Hopes 2-0-23-1