Uthappa stars in Kolkata's win over Chennai

Robin Uthappa scored an impressive 67 runs from 39 balls to help Kolkata beat Chennai by eight wickets. The win helped Kolkata draw level with Rajasthan on 14 points from 12 games in the Indian T20 league on Tuesday.

Chennai batted first and Suresh Raina top-scored with 65 runs to help his side post 154 runs in their innings. In reply, Kolkata were off to a flier with the bat.

Uthappa attacked from the start and smashed the first delivery of their innings, bowled by Ben Hilfenhaus, for a four. He was dropped in the slips by Ashwin three balls later, but clubbed the fifth ball for another boundary.

The right-hander then hit Ishwar Pandey for two successive fours in the second over and Mohit Sharma for two more in the third.

Uthappa and Gambhir scored briskly in the first-five overs and managed to find the boundary eight times.

Uthappa joined forces with Manish Pandey after Kolkata lost their captain in the seventh over for 21. Gambhir's departure didn't affect the run rate as Uthappa continued his attacking posture.

He hit a six and two more fours before miscuing one towards long-off in the 12th over. But Uthappa had provided his side with the platform to successfully chase Chennai's total.

Shakib Al Hasan, who replaced him, built on that platform and smashed six fours and two sixes to help Kolkata win with two overs to spare.

"I've enjoyed batting here on this ground, the crowd is fantastic. I have always done well here, sort of a lucky ground for me," Uthappa said.

"The wicket was coming on well, the dew factor also helped it. I just wanted to play to the merit of the ball, when you play T20 you tend to lose shape technically, that's what I have been trying to avoid, to not lose shape in the first six overs."