TheSportsCampus

Kolkata Knight Riders showed on Thursday night that they mean business this season as they picked up their fourth win of the campaign at the expense of the unfortunate Delhi Daredevils, who have becoming the whipping boys of the Indian Premier League. Batting first, Kolkata put 148 runs on the board with Manoj Tiwary top scoring with 61. The score was just about enough to beat the Delhi Daredevils by 17 runs to race to second place in the Premier League table. Kolkata's bowlers put on a tremendous show in the evening, led by young Iqbal Abdulla, who turned the ball a mile on a green track and picked up 3 important wickets. Delhi's bowlers on the other hand did well to restrict Kolkata to148, but their batsmen disappointed once again.

A wide open Indian Premier League is almost at its mid-way stage and with the exception of the Mumbai Indians, no team has really stamped its authority on the league. A solitary win was all that was separating the Kolkata Knight Riders, fifth coming into this game and the Delhi Daredevils languishing at the bottom. Like every other game in the tournament, the encounter was absolutely vital for both sides. If Delhi lost it meant they might have to win 6 of their last 7 games to qualify for the play-offs while for Kolkata a defeat would have meant a third setback in as many games. The match had some marquee contests to look forward to with India's openers and best buds, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, leading the two sides and the Pathan brothers, Irfan and Yusuf, playing on opposite sides.

The awesome twosome of Sehwag and Gambhir were at the toss and the present Delhi captain won it and opted to bowl first. Several changes were made to both sides. Delhi gave experienced seamer Ajit Agarkar another chance and the struggling Matthew Wade made way for Travis Birt. Kolkata made three changes with the change of venue affecting their selection. Brett Lee came back into the side, wicketkeeper Sreevats Goswami was given his first game of the tournament and Ryan ten Doeschate made the side replacing  Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan.

Jacques Kallis was opening with a third different partner this season in the person of Sreevats Goswami. They were up against Irfan Pathan, who had the new ball in his hands to utilize what looked like some very favourable conditions. The former Indian allrounder did exceedingly well, getting the ball to jag in sharply into the right hander and was looking more and more like the devastating youngster who terrorized world cricket in the early 2000s.

Sreevats made his intentions clear when he charged down the track to Morne Morkel and smashed the Protea for 2 boundaries in his opening over. Morkel wasn’t spared by his national teammate Kallis either, with the veteran allrounder also finding the ropes twice in as many balls. But finally Delhi got the breakthrough they richly deserved with Pathan clipping Kallis’ leg stump, who scored a-run-a-ball 11. Pathan was weaving his magic with Sreevats escaping a sharp chance in the same over.

Gautam Gambhir announced his arrival in the middle with a beautiful cut off Umesh Yadav but the fast bowler could have had his revenge next ball if Pathan had held on to a swirling chance. The Knight Riders were 42 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.

Ajit Agarkar struck with his very first ball,  finding the edge of Sreevats’ bat and knocked Kolkata on the back foot. Yadav and Agarkar were doing a good job with Kolkata adding 16 runs in the 3 overs since the powerplay.

However, KKR emerged from the strategic time out with a purpose and Manoj Tiwary sent a rank full toss from Agarkar deep into the stands. A 15 run over from Agarkar gave the run-rate a lift but Kolkata lost their captain the next over when he holed out in the deep. Gambhir scored 18 off 19 balls.

At the other hand, Tiwary was well set and he hit another enormous six when Morkel came back into the attack. Runs were coming in fits and starts with the odd good over interspersed between some tight ones. Yusuf Pathan failed to fire in yet another game, falling for 5 rather predictably caught in the deep by his younger sibling. Umesh Yadav had two in as many balls when Eoin Morgan top edged the very first ball he faced.

Ryan ten Doeschate got his first bat of the series with his side tottering at 105/5 and Delhi were able to sneak in some more quiet overs with Irfan Pathan finishing a terrific spell of 1-16 in 4 overs. Kolkata needed some big hits but none were coming their way. Tiwary reached his half century off 37 balls and the responsibility to take Kolkata to a good total rested on his shoulders.

Ten Doeschate was given a second life when some terrible running by Tiwary almost cost the Dutchman his wicket, he was saved by the TV Umpire who noted that the fielder had picked up the ball after it had rebounded off the rope on the boundary. Ten Doeschate made the most of the opportunity, spanking Morkel for a 6 and a 4 off consecutive deliveries in the 19^th over, but the bowler had the last laugh as Ten Doeschate(19) was caught running in from the deep by Pathan. Agarkar bowled a solid last over conceding just 8 as the Knight Riders finished the innings with 148. Tiwary top scored with an unbeaten 61 off 47 balls. Kolkata would have been a tad disappointed with their effort, but a good spell from their fast bowlers would immediately swing the game back in the balance.

Kolkata needed early wickets to have a chance of winning this game and the best man to provide them that edge was Brett Lee. Sehwag though looked in ominous touch, smashing a boundary to get off the mark and repeating the effort in the second over off Laxmipathi Balaji. But Balaji struck in the same over when David Warner played the ball back onto his own stumps. Sehwag looked to be in a different world altogether and was striking the ball fiercely. While his new partner James Hopes was unable to get going, Sehwag continued to play in flamboyant fashion.

The real surprise of the day was when Iqbal Abdulla came on to bowl and he turned the ball a country mile. Delhi though were still very much in the driver's seat having made their way to a par 41 in the powerplay. The worry for them though was Sehwag had scored 33 runs off those runs.

Young Jaidev Unadkat shocked Sehwag with a bouncer to begin the 7^th over and then got rid of him next ball with another bouncer as Sehwag was unable to control his shot. Irfan Pathan was promoted up the order, presumably to have a go at the left arm spinner Abdulla, but Kolkata were wise to the effort and brought Kallis on instead.

The 50 of the innings came up in the 9^th over when Hopes hit his first boundary off Unadkat. Delhi were spiralling downwards and the strategic time-out came at the perfect moment for them to rethink their chase. A brilliant hit for 6 from Irfan left the Daredevils with 89 to get in the last 10 overs of the innings.

Abdulla was brought back at this juncture and he responded by getting rid of the younger Pathan for 9, caught by Ten Doeschate on the boundary. Travis Birt, playing his first match in the IPL, was sent in to replace Irfan. The required rate jumped above 10 in no time and it needed a special effort from someone to steer Delhi to safety.

Birt’s debut was shortlived as he was unable to put away a short ball from Yusuf. The spinners were doing the job for Kolkata, something no one would have guessed looking at the pitch. The crowd was momentarily revived when Hopes smashed the ball deep into the crowd but hit the next ball straight into Tiwary’s hands. Hopes scored a miserable 25 off 30 balls, the runs vital, but he took too long to get them. Abdulla then had his third victim when Naman Ojha was caught by Lee for just 1.

Some Delhi hopes were reignited when Lee gave away 13 runs in the 16^th over and Yogesh Nagar hit a maximum in the next over and suddenly the game looked far from over. 40 were needed from last 3 overs and 14 of those came from the 18^th over bowled by Balaji and suddenly it seemed like there was going to be another twist in the tale. But Lee had other ideas as he started the penultimate over with a dot ball and followed it with two run outs. The over conceded just 2 runs and left Nagar stranded at the non-strikers end with Delhi needing an unlikely 24 runs in the final over. An exceptional last over from Balaji conceded just 6 as Kolkata picked up their 4^th win in 7 games.

Kolkata’s campaign is back on track as they move back to 2^nd spot just behind Mumbai Indians. They have a busy schedule coming up which they begin with hosting the Kings XI Punjab at Eden Gardens on Saturday.

Delhi on the other hand are all but out of contention at just the half-way stage and only a minor miracle can rescue them from this position. They travel to Kochi to face the Tuskers in the early kick-off also on Saturday, knowing that every game from here on is virtually a cup final.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Jacques Kallis, Sreevats Goswami(wk), Gautam Gambhir(c), Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Iqbal Abdulla, Jaidev Unadkat, Laxmipathi Balaji, Brett Lee.

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag(c), David Warner, Yogesh Nagar, Travis Birt, Naman Ojha(wk), Venugopal Rao, Irfan Pathan, James Hopes, Morne Morkel, Ajit Agarkar, Umesh Yadav.

Mini Scorecard:

Kolkata Knight Riders 148/7 (20 overs, 7.4rpo)
Manoj Tiwary 61 (47) Umesh Yadav 2-29
Sreevats Goswami 22(20) Irfan Pathan 1-16

Delhi Daredevils 131/9 in 20 overs (6.55 runs per over)
Virender Sehwag 34(23) Iqbal Abdulla 3-25
James Hopes 25(30) Laxmipathy Balaji 2-38

Kolkata Knight Riders win by 17 runs