A four wicket haul by RP Singh helped Hyderabad outclass Kolkata by eight wickets in their clash in Newlands.

The India seamer claimed four wickets for only 22 runs and was given good support from Pragyan Ojha (two for 14) and Scott Styris (two for 32) as Kolkata could only set a lowly target of 102.

Only Brad Hodge (31) managed to put up any fight and the Chargers raced home thanks to Herschelle Gibbs (43) and Rohit Sharma (36), who both finished unbeaten.

IPL Match 4 Images

Kolkata got off to a poor start, losing their first wicket when Brendon McCullum - the New Zealander who set the tournament alight last season when he blasted 158 in the opening match - gloved the first ball of the second over by RP Singh down the leg side to Adam Gilchrist for one.

Two overs later, Chris Gayle (10) top-edged the same bowler to Harmeet Singh running in from long-off, before the catcher turned wicket-taker when he drew a thick edge from Sourav Ganguly (one) to VVS Laxman at first slip.

Top Performer: RP Singh

At that stage the Knight Riders were 16 for three in the sixth over, partly because of the stingy spell of bowling from Fidel Edwards at the other end - the West Indian had figures of none for two in three overs.

It's all about numbers

Ojha then came in and removed Aakash Chopra (11) and Laxmi Shukla (eight), both stumped by Gilchrist, before Hodge and Moises Henriques put on 24.

Two wickets in one over from Styris - removing Hodge and Henriques (six) - left the score at 73 for seven and Ajit Agarkar, Ishant Sharma and Dinda all went cheaply as Kolkata were all out for 101 in 19.4 overs.

Deccan never looked troubled in their response despite losing the wicket of Gilchrist in the third over - the former Australia wicketkeeper mistiming an attempted pull shot off Dinda and top-edged to Henriques at square leg for 13.

Laxman was out two overs later after being sent back from an attempted run as a good throw from Shukla left the batsman stranded for 10.

But Gibbs and Sharma played freely, plundering 11 boundaries between them, including three sixes, as the Chargers raced home with 41 balls to spare.

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