Daredevils crush KKR by 52 runs

Delhi Daredevils: 160 for 8 in 20 overs (Ross Taylor 36,Unmukt Chand 40; Sunil Narine 3/21).

Kolkata Knight Riders: 108 for 7 in 20 overs

KKR crawled to 24 for four at the end of the fifth over and then to 41 for four with just two fours in the first 10 overs. At the halfway mark,the asking rate had shot up to 12 runs per over.

Manoj Tiwary and Rajat Bhatia tried to make a match out of it but that effort ended in the 15th over after the duo shared 47 runs highest partnership for KKR — for the fifth wicket from 9.2 overs.

At the end of the 15th over,the writing was on the wall for KKR as the asking rate has shot up to around 18 runs per overs.

Earlier,young Unmukt Chand and Ross Taylor played fine cameos as Delhi Daredevils posted a competitive 160 for eight.

Most of the big guns of the Daredevils could not come up with a big score with only Chand (40) and Taylor (36) contributing substantially after being sent into bat.

Except for the 64-run stand for the fourth wicket in 64 balls between Chand and Taylor,there was no substantial partnership for the Daredevils. Their score would have been much smaller had not Lakshmipathy Balaji yielded 30 runs in the 17th over.

Chand,who was timing the ball superbly throughout his innings,four fours and two sixes from the 27 balls he faced. Taylor struck one four and two sixes in his 24-ball innings.

Off-spinner Sunil Narine was the pick of the KKR bowlers as he grabbed three wickets for 21. Balaji was expensive as he conceded 61 runs for two wickets while Brett Lee and Jacques Kallis chipped in with one wicket each.

Daredevils did begin well with Virender Sehwag (22) and captain Mahela Jayawardene (21) putting on 36 runs in 5.1 overs but later on lost wickets in regular intervals before regaining ground towards the close to post a decent score.

The second over bowled by Balaji yielded 11 runs with Sehwag and Jayawardene hitting a four each. Lee got the bounce but was carted for two fours by Jayawardene in his second over and KKR’s third.

Sehwag was lucky in the fourth over when he was on six as Manvinder Bisla failed to hold onto a sharp catch behind the wickets after the batsman edged a Balaji delivery.

The Daredevils reached 36 for no loss after the first five overs but Narine got the breakthrough with his first all,removing Jayawardene with a fullish off-break which disturbed the timbers.

Kevin Pietersen (14 off 18 balls),who came in at the fall of Jayawardene,had a lucky escape in the third ball he faced off Narine as the ball struck wicketkeeper Bisla’s wrist after taking the thick edge of the batsman.

Pietersen was again dropped soon after,when on 11,as Bisla allowed to let the ball slip from his hands. The Englishman tried to scoop the ball over his head but got the a fine edge.

The pressure apparently worked as Sehwag was dismissed by Pradeep Sangwan in the ninth over with the batsman getting a nick and Bisla not making a mistake this time.

Next over,Pietersen’s charmed life ended as his pull shot off Lee failed to get the middle of the bat and holed out to Narine at deep midwicket. Daredevils were 64 for three at the halfway mark.

India Under 19 World Cup-winning captain Chand and Taylor steadied the innings with a 64-run stand before the New Zealander was out in the 17th over.

Chand was out in the 18th over with Narine doing the damage. The youngster made a big forward movement and then went back to cut a length-ball only to miss it and see his timbers disturbed.