IPL 8: Kolkata Knight Riders rise in Gautam Gambhir’s city

When Yuvraj Singh brought up Delhi Daredevils’ 100 with an emphatic pull off leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, only five more overs remained of the innings. There was a sense of anticipation in the crowd, and given the kind of shots Yuvraj is capable of playing, they must have been fervently praying for Delhi to reach a competitive total. For till then, JP Duminy’s boys had been huffing and puffing.

Put into bat by KKR, the hosts lost four early wickets. Yuvraj was the only hope. But he departed the very next delivery after helping Delhi cross the 100-run mark, and in a manner that was nothing short of bizarre.

The 33-year-old tried to sweep a length Chawla delivery, but was unable to connect. In the process, he wandered aimlessly outside the crease, not realising the ball had rolled behind the stumps and on to wicket-keeper Robin Uthappa’s gloves. As if to make the nature of the dismissal even more freakish, Uthappa missed the stumping initially. But with Yuvraj showing no urgency to get back to his crease, the KKR wicketkeeper picked up the bails and ended the left-hander’s stay and with it Delhi’s hopes of a big total. What was even more surprising was that there was hardly any communication from the non-striker’s end, allowing Yuvraj to remain stranded at no-man’s land. It gave Chawla his 100th wicket in IPL, but for the spinner it was a manna from heaven. With Yuvraj gone, Delhi slumped to 103 for 5 and Kolkata were in the driving seat.

Scorecard: KKR vs DD

After back-to-back victories, Delhi’s problem with the bat returned to haunt them yet again. Most of Delhi’s batsmen got out to innocuous strokes after getting starts, Manoj Tiwary being a classic case.

Walking in at the fall off captain Duminy’s wicket in the 5th over, he began with a delicate sweep shot off Sunil Narine. He looked positive and the early wickets did not deter his strokeplay. He ran well between the wickets, and the two boundaries — one of Andre Russell and then an exquisite reverse glance to Yusuf Pathan — set his innings in motion.

However, just when you thought Tiwary was in for a big haul, he attempted a pull to a short-pitched delivery from Morne Morkel and gifted a regulation catch to Pathan. Tiwary, and then Yuvraj’s departure at crucial junctures hurt Delhi’s chances and with none to prop up the innings, Delhi lost their way.

CLINICAL KKR

KKR captain Gautam Gambhir knows the Feroze Shah Kotla track like the back of his hand. So a dry Kotla wicket with ample grass covering was enough for him to put the home side into bat after winning the toss. And his bowlers responded to the captain’s call by removing opener Mayank Agarwal and Duminy early. Agarwal managed just one and was dismissed by Morkel in the very first over. Agarwal now averages 19.25 with the bat, the least among openers who have played at least 20 innings in the IPL.

Like Kings XI Punjab found out a couple of nights ago, Delhi too were in for a torrid time. Young openers Shreyas Iyer and Agarwal struggled against the pace and accuracy of Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav. The duo hit the straps immediately, bowling a good line and length, and as DD found out, playing shots on the up looked difficult.

Iyer’s first scoring shot came in the fourth over — a slash over point for a boundary off Morkel. But the gifts were few and far between against the variety KKR had to offer. If Morkel bowled a nagging length, Yadav bowled with pace, touching close to 150km/hr, and in Narine they had a world-class bowler whose clever variations is difficult to deal to pick up by even the best in the business.

A two-wicket burst in the death overs earned Yadav the Man-of-the-Match award. The burly Nagpur lad has grown in confidence since the World Cup, and the manner in which he varied his length in the final over is a testimony to his phenomenal growth as a top-class fast bowler.

Despite getting two early wickets, Gambhir was in no mood to play the waiting game. He sensed an opportunity in exposing Delhi’s middle-order, and kept rotating his bowlers cleverly. As a result none of the Delhi batsmen were able to settle down. At the end of 9 overs, DD were 60 for three. Kings XI Punjab had found themselves in a more or less similar position in their last enounter against Kolkata. But then they had George Bailey. But Delhi had no one to play that kind of an innings. As a result 146 was hardly a score that could trouble the Knight Riders.

ROMP HOME

KKR opener Uthappa has been experiencing an indifferent start to this IPL. The Karnataka batsman-keeper, who scored truckload of runs in the Ranji season, doesn’t seem to be in the right zone. Despite getting the starts, he is not being able to consolidate them into big scores. Against Delhi on Monday, it was a similar story. He got the score moving with a delightful flick through long-on from the first ball of KKR innings. But much like his previous innings, Uthappa flattered to deceive, holing out to Muthuswami for 19. A little later, Manish Pandey departed, slashing a wide delivery to third man. DD sensed an opening. KKR were 31 for two.

This was the only time that Delhi looked like they were in with a chance before Gambhir decided to shut that window of opportunity.

On his ‘home turf’, Gambhir took a liking to the friendly medium pace of Angelo Mathews. If Mathews, pitched it full, he would flick it through fine leg for a boundary. In an attempt to compensate for it he bowled one on the off, which the 33-year-old played through the line. Strangely, batting looked easy when Gambhir was at the crease.

The skipper found an ally in Suryakumar Yadav, and the duo added 48 runs in just 5.2 overs for the third wicket to set up the chase. At the end of the 10th over, when Yadav was eventually dismissed, KKR had already scored 79. Yadav’s dismissal brought in Pathan, and there was no looking back.

As it happened…