Kolkata, May 25: Sourav Ganguly (86 not out, 53 balls, 6x4, 6x6) played a blinder and salvaged the Knight Riders' pride. Chasing an imposing 174/6, the hosts prevailed over the Kings XI Punjab by three wickets with three balls to spare in a pulsating encounter. A 49-run seventh wicket partnership between Ganguly and Umar Gul (24, 11b) turned the tide and the former carried his bat to ensure a happy ending.

With 75 required from the last five overs, it seemed all over for the Knight Riders at one stage. But things started to change from the 16th over in which James Hopes conceded 16 runs.

After Gul left, it was all Ganguly show. V.R.V. Singh (2/28) and Irfan Pathan (0/36) were taken to the cleaners in their final overs.

Ganguly returned to scintillating form, but the skipper will rue that it came a little too late. The Knight Riders signed off from the IPL with 12 points.

Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara (64, 45b) lighted up a sparsely-crowded Eden Gardens after Yuvraj Singh won the toss and decided to bat.

It was as if he had a magic wand and the bowlers were hypnotised. A flick off Ishant Sharma to the square-leg boundary stood out. He picked it from outside the off-stump and dealt it with contempt. Ishant was demoralised.

And when Sangakkara fell, thanks to a dubious decision by umpire Steve Davis, even the local crowds were not happy.

He shared an 83-run partnership with Shaun Marsh (40) for the second wicket. The latter was strong-armed and took his tally to 478 in the tournament.

Apart from the debutant Ajantha Mendis (1/24) and Umar Gul (4/23) nobody looked sharp. Ishant was pedestrian leaking runs freely.

His four overs cost 49 without any success.

Mendis, the young offie from Sri Lanka, however showed maturity. He was asked to bowl in the third over with powerplay on. The 23-year-old from Moratua took the challenge and never looked out of place.

Gul was right on the money from the outset and was excellent at death. He was on hat-trick in his final over after he removed Irfan Pathan (7) and Piyush Chawla in successive balls.

The Knight Riders were done in by some poor fielding. Three catches were dropped and once Ganguly and Aakash Chopra collided going for a skier. The ball fell safely and Yuvraj (27) was the gainer.