Chasing a victory target of 133 runs, Kolkata managed to score 126/9 in their 20 overs as Kochi captain Mahela Jayawardene marshalled his resources superbly to defend a low score.
Ramesh Powar had Yusuf Pathan caught by Muttiah Muralitharan at short third man as Kolkata Knight Riders lost their sixth wicket in the 16th over.
In the next over, Manoj Tiwary charged down the pitch to Jadeja, but missed the delivery and was stumped by Parthiv Patel to leave Kolkata at 101/7.
Tiwary hit 2 sixes and 2 fours in his 51-ball 46.
Muralitharan then had Brett Lee caught by Kedar Jadhav at long-on to place Kolkata at 105/8.
RP Singh took his second wicket when he clean bowled Shakib Al Hasan to reduce Kolkata Knight Riders to 86/5 in 15 overs.
Knight Riders lost their fourth wicket when Kochi Tuskers captain Mahela Jayawardene ran out Eoin Morgan with a direct hit.
Vinay Kumar, RP Singh and Ravindra Jadeja took a wicket each as Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a bad start in pursuit of 133 runs.
Vinay gave Kochi the first breakthrough in the fourth over when he had Jacques Kallis caught by Kedar Jadhav at deep square leg.
In the next over, RP Singh clean bowled Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir to place the hosts at 27/2.
Jadeja then struck in the sixth over when he clean bowled Manvinder Bisla to reduce KKR to 37/3.
Earlier, Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets each as Kolkata Knight Riders restricted Kochi Tuskers Kerala to 132/7.
Top marks to the KKR outfit for pulling things back after the initial cameos by Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene.
Gambhir showed his smartness by introducing spin and that put the breaks on the Kochi innings.
Jadeja threatened to bring back the momentum, but he fell in attempting to score a big hit one too many.
Jadeja played the big shot to an outside off stump Brett Lee delivery, the ball hit the lower part of the bat, the ball though went high up in the air dropped in the safe hands of Yusuf Pathan at long-on.
Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Kedar Jadhav as he was backing away looking to whip it down the wicket, he missed, was done in by the pace at which the ball travelled after pitching, leg stump knocked back.
Mahela Jayawardene was given LBW to a Yusuf Pathan delivery. Alam Dar's finger was up in a flash. However, the reviews showed it was a poor decision from the Umpire of the year as Jayawardene's attempted sweep finds the glove before hitting the pad.
The end overs produced nothing but singles for Kochi and they ended up on 132, which is not a mammoth score to chase for the star studded KKR line-up.
Kolkata didn't make any change to their playing XI, while Kochi made one change, bringing in Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan in place of Thisara Perera. a.k.shrma1@gmail.com
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