Kallis shines in Kolkata's home victory

Jacques Kallis may not be the most explosive batsman in world cricket, but he can be relied on to provide launching pads to his team with solid half-centuries at the top of the order.

At a half-filled Eden Gardens, he again guided Kolkata Knight Riders on a trick pitch with a controlled filled with off-driven boundaries. He wasn't overly troubled by the new-ball attack of Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma, but the introduction of spin slowed the scoring as Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra teased the batsmen on a helpful pitch.

Kallis employed the sweep effectively against the spinners, and started to punish the part-time offerings of JP Duminy and Ravi Teja. A powerful swipe off Duminy got him to a second consecutive fifty, but he perished next ball as he attempted to clear midwicket again.

He was the highest scorer in the match, and on a pitch where taking the pace off was beneficial, his hit-the-deck bowling wasn't required. Still, Kallis contributed to the team cause, taking four catches in the outfield - none of them were particularly tough, but the IPL is a tournament where notoriously low, and a safe pairs of hands in the field makes a difference.

The one worry for Kolkata as they cruised towards victory was when he seemed to have injured himself as he dived for yet another outfield catch. He came running in from deep midwicket to attempt a catch off Dan Christian, but the bounced in front of him and struck him just below the chin. He needed some treatment from the physio, but he was hurt too seriously, much to Kolkata's relief.