Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla were the stars, the former with some tough late biffing and the latter with a quickfire 20-odd and four wickets with the ball.
So the Knight Riders climb to third and they seem to be finding form at just the right time to push for the play-offs. As for the Daredevils, they’re pretty much cooked after four defeats in the last five.
Thanks for reading. See you again tomorrow, bye!
Knight Riders win by 13 runs
20th over: Daredevils 158-6 (S Tiwary 24, Morkel 5) target 172 Albie Morkel is, for some reason, in at eight. Tiwary digs out a yorker for a single, bringing him on strike, then Yadav bowls a wide outside off. Morkel’s first legal delivery is still fairly wide outside off and gets crunched to mid-off for a one-bounce four. Tiwary looks to go over cow corner and picks out Pandey, but the fielder drops it over the rope, not that it matters any more. The last ball is a full-toss outside off and Tiwary slashes it over backward point for four meaningless runs.
19th over: Daredevils 143-6 (S Tiwary 15, Morkel 0) target 172 It’s Russell with the final over and he concedes just singles from his first two balls. Full and straight for the first two, then a great bouncer that beats Tiwary for pace. A single brings Mathews on pace and, when Russell misses his yorker length by a fraction, he nails a shot down the ground for four. That’s it for Mathews though. Albie in for the final over.
“Stop saying anything per se, Danny Morrison, surely?” writes Paul Billington. “I can’t stand the man. A six is a six, not a “[insert whichever concrete merchant sponsors highly scoring strokes this season] maximum”. Grrr.” Quite: it’s not a maximum at all.
Wicket! Mathews b Russell 22
Slightly back of a length, Mathews looks to swivel-pull but is through on the shot too early and bottom-edges into middle stump.
Updated
18th over: Daredevils 137-5 (S Tiwary 14, Mathews 17) target 172 STOP SAYING “DOUBLE DS” DANNY MORRISON. Ahem. Yadav is back into the attack and begins with a wide. He comes back nicely, although he’s lucky that Tiwary’s straight drive off a full one goes like a bullet into the non-striker’s middle stump. He’s hit that hard enough to break the camera. A slower ball and Tiwary picks it, getting four through extra cover. One more, then Yadav beats Mathews outside off. One more from the final ball.
17th over: Daredevils 130-5 (S Tiwary 9, Mathews 16) target 172 Hogg again and, after Tiwary pushes down the ground for a single, Mathews hustles hard for two. Hogg then pushes one across the Sri Lanka batsman and he launches it over long-on for six. A single brings Tiwary on strike and, when Hogg drops short, he slogs an enormous six over mid-wicket. One to mid-on to finish makes 17 from an uncharacteristically loose Hogg over.
16th over: Daredevils 113-5 (S Tiwary 1, Mathews 8) target 172 Lovely reverse-sweep brings four runs for Mathews first ball; Chawla responds with a quick one that nearly goes through the batsman’s defence. They get away for a single but then Duminy, mindful of the need to get a move on, falls going for the big hit. Mathews then gets a leading edge just short of cover. 4-32 from Chawla today, who wasn’t too shabby with the bat either.
Wicket! Duminy c Yadav b Chawla 25
Duminy goes for the slog-sweep but doesn’t middle it. Yadav gleefully accepts the catch just in from the rope.
15th over: Daredevils 106-4 (Duminy 25, Mathews 1) target 172 A wide outside off from Narine brings up the 100. This chase is probably dead in the water now: almost 13 an over needed. Four singles from the first five balls, then Duminy clubs a wide one back over the bowler’s head for four.
14th over: Daredevils 97-4 (Duminy 19, Mathews 0) target 172 This chase isn’t quite dead in the water yet as, though they’ve lived charmed lives, Duminy and Iyer before him have at least managed to stay at around about the required rate for the past few overs. Chawla gets rid of Jadhav, bringing Yuvraj to the crease. Chawla then removes Yuvraj from the crease. A single to Duminy ends the over.
Wicket! Yuvraj c Russell b Chawla 0
This is a really good catch. Yuvraj goes big and it’s a bad hit, meaning Russell has to hare in a long way from the boundary. He takes it comfortably in the end.
Wicket! Jadhav c Botha b Chawla 10
Slog, long-off, etc. This is rubbish.
13th over: Daredevils 95-2 (Duminy 17, Jadhav 10) target 172 Back to Narine we go. His first ball is too short, but Jadhav can only hit it to mid-wicket for one. No matter, as the next ball, again to short, gets nailed over the “other” (ie left-hander’s) mid-wicket for six.
12th over: Daredevils 85-2 (Duminy 9, Jadhav 8) target 172 Jadhav, hardly in great form, comes in higher up the order than usual. Botha into the attack now and Jadhav creams the first ball he faces hard out to cover point for one. A single apiece, then Jadhav swishes a wide one over mid-off for six. Another single, then another thin bottom-edge through the keeper’s legs runs down to the boundary!
11th over: Daredevils 71-2 (Duminy 3, Jadhav 0) target 172 The Daredevils managed to get the requisite number of runs, as per the rate, from that last over, but did lose a wicket and you feel that if they continue to target these canny spinners they’ll continue to do so. Duminy slog-sweeps Hogg just short of deep mid-on and it’s kept to one. Ooh and then Iyer backs away and tries to cut, but feathers a thin bottom-edge between Uthappa’s legs and down to long-leg for four. That’s the end of his fun though as the last ball brings a wicket.
Wicket! Iyer b Hogg 40
Iyer backs away, but the ball turns back into him from outside off and, cramped for room, he gets tucked up and the ball crashes into off.
Updated
10th over: Daredevils 64-1 (Duminy 1, Iyer 35) target 172 It looks like the batsmen are going after Chawla here, as Tiwary slog-sweeps him for six over mid-wicket. God knows they need to go after someone. Such a tactic brings Tiwary’s downfall, though in truth he never looked comfortable out there.
Wicket! M Tiwary c S Yadav b Chawla 25
Tiwary looks to go big, but he was always fetching this from too far outside off-stump and can only pick out long-on.
9th over: Daredevils 54-0 (M Tiwary 18, Iyer 33) target 172 Brad Hogg, the 44-year-old who was magnificent against CSK, taking four wickets, comes on for Narine. After Iyer takes a single, Tiwary gives him the charge but gets a thick inside-edge out to square-leg for one. Iyer then backs away and gets a top-edge looking to cut, but the ball spins out of Gambhir’s hands at backward point. That’s a shocking drop, the ball coming at gentle pace, head-height.
8th over: Daredevils 51-0 (M Tiwary 17, Iyer 31) target 172 More spin and it’s likely that this is the way we’ll go for most of the remainder of this innings. Chawla, the leg-spinner now. He tosses up a wide one and Iyer rolls the wrists and hits over cover for six. Then a thrash over extra-cover goes for four, so Chawla goes a bit straighter and with the googly. Two singles, the second of which brings up the 50 partnership, then a push to cover for one more.
7th over: Daredevils 38-0 (M Tiwary 16, Iyer 19) target 172 Narine has a shout for LBW against Tiwary, but it’s turning down leg. The next ball he goes for the big one but doesn’t read it properly and his wild slash lands safely at cover for one. Two more dots and now the required rate goes past 10. Just one more single to complete the over.
6th over: Daredevils 36-0 (M Tiwary 15, Iyer 18) target 172 This is all setting up rather nicely, although it’s a slightly odd tactic to wait to go after the spinners. Personally I’d have picked Morkel over Narine, but only because I don’t rate the latter. Russell is in for his third over and, like Yadav, he’s getting good carry through to the keeper. Two from the over, one per batsman.
5th over: Daredevils 34-0 (M Tiwary 14, Iyer 17) target 172 Welcome back, Sunil Narine. He’s bowling to Tiwary first up and the batsman’s mistimed clip off the pads lands about a foot in front of mid-on. After a couple of singles, Tiwary comes down the track and is beaten in the flight, but his chip clears mid-on and speeds along the outfield to the boundary. Short next and Tiwary pulls over mid-on for four more.
4th over: Daredevils 24-0 (M Tiwary 5, Iyer 16) target 172 Andre Russell’s slower ball is picked nicely by Iyer and he flicks it nicely over long-on for the first six of the innings. It’s important they don’t go too hard early on here, the batsmen so, while there are no fireworks, this has been a decent enough start. A single, then a bouncer that flashes past Tiwary’s jaw as he dares to step down the track. A bouncer gets called wide on height, then a quick single ends the over.
3rd over: Daredevils 15-0 (M Tiwary 4, Iyer 9) target 172 A wide down the leg-side to begin with from Yadav, then Iyer knocks a straight one to mid-on for one. Yadav perhaps needs to be a touch wider outside off, although the margins are obviously fine. Ooh and then another nips back and strikes Tiwary on the thigh, with a leg-bye taken. Good over that.
2nd over: Daredevils 11-0 (M Tiwary 4, Iyer 7) target 172 Gambhir resists the temptation to go with spin from the off, turning instead to Russell. The West Indian injured his shoulder in the last match against RCB, so it’ll be interesting to see how he goes here. He doesn’t look in any kind of discomfort here. A couple run down to third man, then Iyer guides one very nicely to the same region, a touch wider, for four. The bowler comes back well though, with a pair of dots and then one that nips back in and cuts the batsman in two. Iyer just manages to deflect it away and run a single.
1st over: Daredevils 4-0 (M Tiwary 4, Iyer 0) target 172 Yadav will take the new ball against the Daredevils’ new opener, Manoj Tiwary. He’s finding more bounce and carry than any of the opposition bowlers, which I guess you would expect with his pace.Five dots, but the last ball is overpitched and straight, clipped from ankle-height through mid-on for four.
62 came off the last five overs.
Imran Tahir first six matches: 24-0-185-13 Imran Tahir last four matches: 11.3-0-129-2 #IPL #KKRvDD #KKR #DD
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) May 7, 2015
That’s a very good total on a difficult wicket. I’m not convinced that the Daredevils’ batting is strong enough to cope with the Knight Riders’ four-pronged spin attack. Back in a few to find out, anyway.
Botha run out 17 and end of innings
20th over: KKR 171-7 (Yadav 7) It’ll be Zaheer with the final over and Botha backs away to his second ball and cracks the yorker away for an excellent boundary. Four more next up with a delicate glance that’s misfielded at backward point. Awful next as Botha top-edges a full-toss, it flies miles up in the air, drops just ahead of the fielder running back to third man and spins away for four. Four in a row as Zaheer tosses it up wide of off and full, Botha whacking it hard through extra cover. 17 from the first five ball, then Botha is run-out coming back for a second on the final ball that was never on.
19th over: KKR 153-6 (Yadav 6, Botha 0) Tahir is going to bowl the penultimate over to Pathan and that feels risky. His first one is full and wide, but Pathan reaches for it and somehow swings it for six back over the bowler’s head. If The Hound from Game of Thrones played cricket, he’d play it like Yusuf. Another big slog, from Yadav, but he gets a thick edge down to third man for one. Yusuf looks to clear long-on again and departs for 42 from 24 balls.
Wicket! Y Pathan c S Tiwary b Tahir 42
Caught at long-off going for the slog. Obviously.
Updated
18th over: KKR 143-5 (Yadav 4, Y Pathan 34) Mishra might have taken a tiny bit of tap in his last over, but he still has 1-12 from his three so far. Yadav lifts a neat drive over cover for a couple. They rotate the strike, then a rare bad ball – a full toss – gets thumped by Pathan out to mid-on for a one-bounce four. 1-20 for Mishra, including 14 dots. Well bowled.
17th over: KKR 135-5 (Yadav 1, Y Pathan 29) Both leggies are back. Tahir’s second ball is slog-swept hard by Russell out to square-leg, where it narrowly avoids the diving fielder’s attempt at a spectacular catch. Then five wides down leg, but Russell is done for next ball. Apologies, I missed the first ball after the timeout as I got locked in the loo thanks to a faulty door. Pathan cuts a wide on nicely for four, then carves it over extra-cover for two.
Wicket! Russell c Mathews b Tahir 5
Tossed up and Russell looks to smash it over long-off, but he doesn’t get hold of it properly having misread the pace and picks out the fielder.
16th over: KKR 119-4 (Russell 1, Y Pathan 23) Mishra is back, with 1-2 from his remarkable first two overs. The third isn’t so good, featuring, as it does, a short one that Yusuf batters violently into the stands at long-off. A single brings Russell on strike for the first time and he’s very nearly undone by a googly that he totally misreads, inside edging on to his shoe. A single finishes the over.
15th over: KKR 109-4 (Russell 0, Y Pathan 14) Morkel again. After a single to Chawla he strays on to leg and Pathan gets four easy runs to long-leg. He takes a single to deep square-leg, before Chawla epitomises why people think the IPL is crap by getting out to a rank full-toss.
Wicket! Chawla c S Tiwary b A Morkel 22
A rubbish full-toss on leg, a rubbish slog straight up in the air and a catch on the edge of the circle at mid-on. At least the catch wasn’t rubbish.
14th over: KKR 102-3 (Chawla 21, Y Pathan 8) Ooh this is close, Chawla coming down the pitch and bottom-edging it into the ground. The ball bobbles past Jadhav and they run a single, then Yusuf wellies a full one over long-on for six. Chawla pushes down the ground for the one that brings up the hundred. The projected score from here is 146, which will be a tough chase on this pitch. Pathan then batters a single down to long-on.
That Chawla shot from earlier.
Here's Piyush Chawla swinging himself off his feet! https://t.co/3deNUfsDFu
— The Cricket Paper (@TheCricketPaper) May 7, 2015
13th over: KKR 91-3 (Chawla 18, Y Pathan 1) Mathews again. The Daredevils are all over the Knight Riders here – Pathan can barely get bat on ball. And then a shout for a catch at square-leg as the ball balloons up a long way off the pad. You felt there had to be bat on that, it travelled so far. Instead it’s a good call by the umpire and they run a leg-bye. Chawla celebrates with a six back over the bowler’s head.
12th over: KKR 83-3 (Chawla 12, Y Pathan 1) It does seem curious that Chawla is in as a pinch hitter when Russell is waiting to come in. I guess they might want someone able to leather thing coming in when the ball isn’t coming on to the bat. Yuvraj into the attack and Pandey hoiks to mid-on, but goes next ball. The pressure was on him given that Chawla isn’t really hitting it as well as might be hoped. Yusuf Pathan the new man and he cuts a wide one to point for a single.
Wicket! Pandey b Yuvraj 22
Pandey really should be expecting the ball to keep low – he’s been out there long enough. Nonetheless, he misreads this one and swipes over it, the ball hitting middle and leg.
11th over: KKR 79-2 (Chawla 11, Pandey 20) Mathews into the attack. A sharp single to third man brings Pandey back on strike but, when the bowler offers him width, he can only hammer it out to cover point for one. Chawla then plays a ridiculous shot, hooking hard with his top hand off the bat, going down like he’s been shot (it really did look like that) and still managing to middle it through square-leg for four.
10th over: KKR 72-2 (Chawla 5, Pandey 19) Yep, you read that right: Chawla is up the order. He drives over cover for two, then goes for a massive slog over long-off and doesn’t get hold of it in the slightest, but the ball lands safely, short of the converging fielders. Two more for that. Between the two there was a leg-side wide and there are a couple of singles from the over as well. Oh and then another two to deep extra cover final ball. That’s a total of nine, people too lazy to add.
9th over: KKR 63-2 (Chawla 0, Pandey 16) Mishra continues, which is no surprise after that magnificent first over. He’s getting a lot of turn here and begins with a couple of googlies that come in a long way. The second is cut for a single, but that’s all that comes from the over. Aside from, y’know the wicket.
Wicket! Uthappa lbw b Mishra 32
A straight one, Uthappa goes for the sweep and gets struck in front.
8th over: KKR 62-1 (Uthappa 32, Pandey 15) Dual leg-spin it will be and his first ball goes for six times as many as he fellow leggie’s entire over did. That is to say, Pandey whips his first one off a length and a long way over wide long-on for six. A dot, and then the next three balls go like a defunct mobile phone operator: one, two, one. Then another one to spoil the analogy.
7th over: KKR 51-1 (Uthappa 29, Pandey 7) Time for “proper” spin, if you like, with Amit Mishra on to bowl some leg breaks. JP Duminy and I are quite alike, because every time I’m watching a match that Danny Morrison’s commentating on, I think about leg breaks too. Anyway, Pandey’s whip out to mid-on brings the only run of the first three four five six balls over.
6th over: KKR 50-1 (Uthappa 29, Pandey 6) Pandey opens the over with a lovely lofted drive straight back over Morkel’s head for four. The next ball they go up for a big LBW shout, but there’s a massive inside edge. The quality of appeals in this competition is embarrassing. Then a drop, by Yuvraj! Uthappa chipped straight to him at mid-on and Yuvi puts down the simplest of catches. He really is a bit crap, isn’t he? The final ball is, like the first, chipped back over the bowler’s head for four.
5th over: KKR 39-1 (Uthappa 23, Pandey 1) As the pitch is only likely to get slower, it seems like a good idea to use most of Zaheer’s allocation early and that’s what Duminy seems to be doing. Although that probably means spin at the death. Still, the decision is vindicated as Zaheer sends down a tempting one and Gambhir is tempted. A really good over goes for just two.
Wicket! Gambhir c Jadhav b Zaheer 12
A soft one this, as Gambhir flashes weakly at one that nibbled away, full and outside off.
4th over: KKR 37-0 (Uthappa 22, Gambhir 12) Now it’s spin, with Duminy, as the TV people show a slow motion replay of the dog. Gambhir cuts loose, driving elegantly over extra-cover for four. Another boundary next ball, to the same area but all along the ground this time. He turns one to leg-slip for a quick single, the Uthappa goes high over long-on, not quite getting hold of it and the ball just brushing Mandeep’s fingertips on its way for six. He should have had his hands up above his head for that one.
3rd over: KKR 21-0 (Uthappa 15, Gambhir 3) We’re sticking with seam and Zaheer for now. After Gambhir pushes to mid-off for one, Zaheer sends one down on leg-stump that Uthappa clips off his pads for four, square through leg. Wider, outside off and full and Uthappa gets another thick edge away for four as he thrashes at it. A couple of dots to finish. But who cares? There’s a dog on the pitch!
2nd over: KKR 12-0 (Uthappa 7, Gambhir 2) From the other end it’s Quentin Tarantino Albie Morkel. No? Is that just me? Gambhir should be gone here as Uthappa pushes to mid-off, there’s confusion as Gambhir has come two thirds of the way down the pitch, but Duminy rushes his throw and misses the stumps. Two balls later they go for something similar and this time Duminy does hit, but Uthappa is well home. Gambhir cuts one more to deep backward point, then Morkel sends one down leg. This is a decent start from the Daredevils, but it looks like being a low-scoring one to me. A full one then edged wide of slip for four.
1st over: KKR 5-0 (Uthappa 2, Gambhir 1) Here we go, Zaheer to open up to Uthappa. He begins with a wide that swings down the leg-side. It’s looking like a pretty dry, cracked pitch out there. Uthappa gets off the mark with a clip to square-leg off his pads. Not much bounce here and the swing won’t last long. Another wide, miles outside Gambhir’s off-stump and swinging away. Better next, beats the edge but the keeper needs to come further up if any edges are going to mean anything. A quick single to cover gets Gambhir off the mark, then Uthappa deflects a bumper to backward point for another.
Loving this KKR team! Mystery spinner: Narine Chubby leg-spinner: Off-spinner: Botha Off-spinner: Pathan 43 year old chinaman: @Brad_Hogg
— Alt Cricket (@AltCricket) May 7, 2015
So Narine is back. He’s been cleared to bowl, but is on a final warning apparently. He’s one of five spinners in the KKR attack, versus four, if you count JP Duminy and Yuvraj Singh, in the Daredevils’.
Kolkata Knight Riders: RV Uthappa†, G Gambhir*, MK Pandey, SA Yadav, AD Russell, YK Pathan, PP Chawla, J Botha, GB Hogg, UT Yadav, SP Narine
Delhi Daredevils: SS Iyer, MK Tiwary, SS Tiwary, JP Duminy*, Yuvraj Singh, AD Mathews, JA Morkel, KM Jadhav†, A Mishra, Imran Tahir, Z Khan
The toss
Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and will bat.
Preamble
Afternoon folks. Like this morning’s match, this is, on the face of it, a form team against a struggling one. Strange, really, given that it’s fourth against sixth and there are only three points between them in the table.
The Knight Riders, the crime-solving riders, were might impressive against the Sunrisers last time out and have missed Sunil Narine and his suspect bowling action like The Beatles miss Pete Best (sorry, Pete, if you’re reading). Their pace attack isn’t bad either, despite the fact they continue to mysteriously omit the hitherto in-form Morne Morkel.
The Daredevils have threatened to play well, but ultimately have lost three of their last four. Hell, they even lost to Mumbai Indians last time around and they’re rubbish. Lose today and that’s not quite their play-off hopes dashed, but they’re pretty well dashed.
Play begins at 3.30pm BST or 8pm Kolkata time. Assuming it doesn’t rain, which is always a possibility in Kolkata. Anyhow, here’s a cracking new song from PINS. I’m going to listen to this to soothe my mind, as my phone bill has just come through. Don’t sign up to Vodafone, kids.
Dan will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s the match report from Kolkata’s most recent IPL match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad on a turning Eden Gardens pitch to go third in the IPL, largely thanks to an outstanding display of controlled spin bowling.
The defending champions made a flying start, Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir putting on 57 for the opening wicket as the Sunrisers’ seamers all struggled to find the right line and offered up easy boundaries. Their stand came to and end when David Warner, the Sunrisers captain, brought on the spinners, who slowed the run rate, with Karn Sharma removing both openers – Uthappa going to a brilliant low catch at cover by Warner.
Unusually, both spinners – Karn and Bipul Sharma – bowled through in tandem, and the tactic proved a useful one as wickets continued to fall. Andre Russell was culpable in throwing his away as he presented Morgan with a second boundary catch, Manish Pandey was run out and Ryan ten Doeschate went lbw to the medium pace of Moises Henriques.
For the full match report, click here.
