CL T20: KKR qualify despite loss to Somerset

Kolkata Knight Riders lost their final qualifying round match against Somerset by 11 runs but still managed to qualify for the Champions League Twenty20 main tournament in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

- Scoreboard

Chasing a victory target of 167, KKR could score 155 for eight but made it to the 10-team main tournament as the third highest ranked side in the six-team qualifying round on better net run rate.

They collected two points from one win – against Auckland Aces -- the same as Ruhunu Eleven but qualified for the main tournament on better net run rate.

KKR have a net run rate of minus 0.225 while Ruhunu ended at minus 0.275. The Kolkata side qualified for the main round after reaching 153 in their run chase.

The Jacques Kallis-led side joined three other Indian teams -- reigning champions Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians -- in the main round, to be held from September 23 to October 9.

Trinidad and Tobago is the other team, which had qualified for the draw after their win on Tuesday.

Riding on opener Peter Trego's fluent half-century, Somerset first produced a solid batting display to post a challenging 166 for six after electing to bat and then restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to 155 for eight at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

Ryan ten Doeschate waged a lone battle for KKR, hitting one four and three sixes on his way to 46 from 31 deliveries, but eventually ran short of partners.

Kolkata never looked like getting to the target as they got off to a poor start and crumbled to 10 for two inside second over, including the wicket of their captain Jacques Kallis (2).

First, Manvinder Bisla (8) was run-out while needlessly going for a non-existent single and then Kallis' attempt to hit Murali Kartik over mid-on fell flat as James Hildreth took a simple catch.

With the early departure of both the openers, Sreevats Goswami (14) and Manoj Tiwary (27) scratched their way to 48 for two, picking up occasional boundaries in between to resurrect the Kolkata innings.

However, Sreevats's stay at the crease was cut short by Max Waller as the diminutive left-hander was caught by Nick Compton at long-on in the 8th over.

Waller struck again in his next over as this time the spinner castled Tiwary to leave KKR tottering at 70 for 4. The Bengal batsman hit five fours in his 23-ball stay at the crease.

Misery continued to chase KKR as the man who could turn the game around - Yusuf Pathan - departed after contributing just 12. Batting with a runner, Pathan tried to clear long-on but fell just short to get caught by Lewis Gregory off Arul Suppiah.

Next man in, Shakib Al Hasan (13) came in and deposited Suppiah for a six as he looked to accelerate the run chase. However, his stay at the crease was short-lived as he was caught by der Merwe off Trego at deep square.

With 43 runs required off last four overs, Rajat Bhatia (19), who came at the fall of Hasan and Doeschate joined hands and went out all guns blazing to reach the qualification target of 153.

Kolkata reached the qualifying mark in the last over, but in the process, lost Bhatia and Doeschate.

For Somerset, der Merwe and Waller picked up two wickets apiece while Kartik, Trego and Suppiah accounted for one wicket each.

Earlier, Trego's half-century helped Somerset post a challenging total in their final qualifying match from Pool A.

Trego (70 off 61) was at his destructive best as he hit nine fours to lay a solid foundation for the middle-order batsmen to capitalise on.

Roelof van der Merwe (40 off 25) also played a good hand while Nick Compton produced a nice 10-ball 20 cameo towards the end to provide the late surge for the visitors, who piled up 46 runs in the last five overs.

Opting to bat, Somerset openers Trego and Chris Jones (14) began the proceedings well, accumulating 27 runs in the first three overs.

Australian pacer Brett Lee brought Kolkata their first breakthrough in the fourth over when a thin bottom edge from Chris Jones was safely taken by wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla.

Next man in, der Merwe made his intentions clear from the outset and picked Yusuf Pathan's off-breaks for special treatment, scoring two streaky boundaries off the bowler in the sixth over.

Trego was in ominous form as he plundered 17 runs off Yusuf Pathan's 10th over, hitting two fours and a six over long-on.

Both took Somerset to 99 for one in just 12.1 overs when medium fast Jaidev Unadkat finally brought some relief to KKR camp by ending a rampaging knock from der Merwe in the 13th over and a partnership of 72 runs with Trego.

James Hildrith (13), who came at the fall of der Merwe, did not allow run-rate to drop as he hit spinner Iqbal Abdulla for two consecutive fours in the 14th over.

However, Hildrith's stay at the crease was cut short by Unadkat, who was caught by Hasan at extra-cover in 16th over.

New man in, Compton soon got into the act and first scooped Lee for a six over fine leg and then hit him for a four over covers to take his team to 151/3. Compton was run out by Unadkat in the 19th over.

Lee bowled a good last over for KKR, where he gave away just seven runs including the wicket of Steve Snell followed by Trego's run out.