Yusuf Pathan, on Thursday A Telegraph picture

Mumbai: For good food, a good recipe is much more important than a high-market oven. If the recipe is good, food will taste good even if cooked on woodfire. On Thursday, the Kolkata Knight Riders had a better ‘recipe’ for success and that’s what made the difference on a track which had enough trick in it to fool the batsmen.

Their seven-wicket victory might appear to be a foreword to a helpful batting track, but when the Pune Warriors were batting, it narrated an entirely different story as they managed only 118 for the loss of seven wickets. That’s exactly where factors like better resources and a sharp captain came in. The Knights were stronger on paper and translated that ably on the field as well.

The win doesn’t come with a gift voucher of the play-offs, because the Knights may still fail to finish in the top four. But chances of that are equivalent to the Indian football team qualifying for the World Cup.

If the Kings XI Punjab (on 14 points) win their last match, against the Deccan Chargers, and the Knights lose theirs’ against the Mumbai Indians, both the teams will finish the league stage on same number of points — 16. The one with a better net run-rate (at this stage, the Knights are comfortably ahead) will qualify. That’s the only scenario in which the Knights may fail.

Coming back to the match, Gautam Gambhir played a captain’s knock while Manoj Tiwary (24) and Yusuf Pathan (29) played nice little cameos to help the Knights overcome the molehill of a target.

Gambhir’s innings, like his captaincy, was class personified. His unbeaten 46-ball 54 was laced with seven boundaries.

But let’s not forget Sourav Ganguly. In the brightness of the Knights’ victory, Sourav’s 22-ball 18 may seem to be another dark chapter in the chequered career of the champion. But the truth is that the former Knights’ captain didn’t die without a fight and, in Shah Rukh Khan’s presence, he proved that even without practice, he is a winner.

For those who need facts as digestive pills, Sourav hit the lone six for the Warriors and was the joint second-highest scorer of the innings. Not to forget, the 38-year old’s diving effort to dismiss Pathan would have done an 18-year old proud.

Earlier, Jesse Ryder showed exactly why the Warriors occupy the first floor, and not higher, of the IPL-IV points table. T20 might be a slam-bang drama, but patience still plays the lead role. And before you decide to deal in boundaries, getting a feel of the wicket is as important as the visas are to a globetrotter. Chris Gayle and Virender Sehwag are of course from Mars, and so the rule is not strictly applicable to them.

That the Navi Mumbai wicket is bowler-friendly is no longer a secret. Ryder (1) tried to hoist Pathan, who opened the bowling with Brett Lee, in the very sixth ball he faced. The ball went heavenwards, but didn’t cross the boundaries of the ground; Manoj Tiwary happily lapped it up at mid-off.