This may only be their second win in this year’s IPL, and may have come too late to help them qualify in the semis, but the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) win against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) sure must have been a great morale booster for them!
The match started with the CSK batting first. Mathew Hayden was missing from action, and in his place, George Bailey – who was playing his first match of this season of the IPL – and Parthiv Patel opened batting, while Ashok Dinda bowled the first over for the KKR. Five runs were made in the first over. The CSK seemed in great form, and by the seventh over, had already made 59 runs, when Patel was run out by Laxmi Shukla after he had made 25 runs off 19 balls. Suresh Raina came in at one down.
The second wicket fell relatively soon, when, in the ninth over, Bailey was run out by Brad Hodge after making 30 runs off 26 balls. Skipper M. S. Dhoni came in next, and, at the end of 10 overs, the CSK were already past 80 runs. Raina completed his fifth IPL 50 in only 36 deliveries by hitting a six, but the very next ball saw him lose his wicket to Dinda (catch Shukla) in the 17th over. Albie Morkel came in after Raina’s dismissal, and played a fantastic innings. The last over proved extremely expensive, as two sixes and one four were hit in it. At the end of 20 overs, the CSK were at 188-3, with Dhoni and Morkel at 40 and 21 not out, respectively.
Now, it was time for the KKR to bat. As usual, skipper Brendon McCullum and Saurav Ganguly opened batting, while Morkel started with the bowling. In the very first over, Ganguly was in danger of getting out as he dropped his bat while taking a run. The fielder threw the ball at the stumps, and had it been a direct hit, Ganguly would’ve been out, for his bat had fallen just in front of the line! Similarly, in the fourth over, once again, Ganguly could’ve been run out, but was saved.
In spite of all his close shaves, Ganguly ultimately did return to the pavilion after making only four runs off 14 balls; he was bowled out by Muttiah Muralidaran. Brad Hodge came in next. McCullum, who had been playing the most fantastic innings so far, finally fell prey to Shadab Jakati’s superb bowling, and was bowled out after making an amazing score of 81 runs off just 48 balls! David Hussey came in at two down, but was run out by Dhoni after he made only two runs.
Wriddhiman Saha came in after Hussey’s dismissal, but after sometime, got injured. Thus, a runner (Hussey) was called on to the field. Between Hodge and Saha, and thanks to McCullum before them, the KKR continued to hit huge fours and sixes, as a result of which, the difference between the number of balls and the runs required reduced drastically. In the end, the KKR needed one run to win off one ball, and every person – CSK and KKR fans alike – was on the edge of his or her seat. Saha was on strike, and he hit very well, as a result of which the ball went far in the field, and they managed to take one run. The KKR thus won the match by seven wickets!
It is amazing, how a team which had won only one match in this season so far, managed to chase – and meet – a total of 188 runs. But meet it they did, and with style! Even though this match will not get them anywhere on the ranks table, the good that it did the team can not be understated!
P.S.: Will SRK return to support his team now? Well, let’s wait and watch!
Yes, match number 41 between the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) sure was entertaining!
In the match played at Centurion stadium, the RCB won the toss and elected to field first. While KKR skipper Brendon McCullum and ex-skipper Saurav Ganguly were the openijg batsmen, the bowling attack was opened by R. Vinay Kumar of the RCB.
While the first and second overs were uneventful, Vinay Kumar bowled the third over, in which he claimed the important wicket of Ganguly who walked back to the bench after making four runs off six balls. After he was caught by Mark Boucher (wicketkeeper), the scoreboard read 13-1.
After Ganguly came Arindam Ghosh, but before he could settle in, he was replaced by David Hussey, who was playing his first match in this season of the IPL. At the end of 10 overs, the KKR team’s score was 69-2.
After the Strategic Time Out, Hussey, who had playing a fabulous innings thus far, was bowled out by Akhil after the former had made 43 runs off only 27 balls! Angelo Mathews, who was also playing his first match, came in after Hussey, but couldn’t make a big contribution, and was dismissed by Anil Kumble.
Next, it was Wriddhiman Saha who walked in at four down. The last over was bowled by Jacques Kaliis, and a lot of runs were made off it, as Kallis bowled two No Balls, the first one of which did not bring a Free Hit for the KKR, but the second one did. Thus, at the end of 20 overs, the KKR score was 173-4, with McCullum at a brilliant 84 runs off 64 balls, not out!
Now, it was the turn of the RCB. Kallis and Jesse Ryder opened the innings, while the same was done by Ishant Sharma for the KKR. The first wicket fell on the ball of Murali Karthik, and Kallis was caught by McCullum after he had made 32 runs off 34 balls.
The other opener, Ryder, got out after he had made 22 runs. At the crease now were Robin Uthappa and Ross Taylor. While the latter stayed till the end, the former got out on a ball by Karthik after having made only seven runs.
Rahul Dravid came in next, but he, too, failed to deliver and got out after 12 runs, which he made off 12 deliveries on a fantastic ball – both bowled and caught – by Ajantha Mendis!
Boucher came in after that, and what followed was one of the best pieces of batting and partnership. Between Boucher and Taylor, the bats came alive and each stroke connected with the ball fabulously, until more than 50 runs were made off the last four overs alone! As a result of their mind blowing batting, the RCB won an almost certainly lost match, once again leading to the defeat of the KKR, in spite of a brilliant performance by them.
The man of the Match award – no surprises there – went to Ross Taylor for hitting an unbeaten 81 off just 33 balls, possibly one of the lowest ever!
That’s right. The result of this match was anybody’s guess. Only thing to be seen was how the result would be achieved in the match between the Delhi Daredevils (DD) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
DD won the toss and chose to field first. As Sehwag is suffering from an injured finger, he was once again not playing, and, as a result, Gautam Gambhir was captain once again. Ashish Nehra opened the bowling attack for the DD, while Brendon McCullum and Saurav Ganguly (yes, he opened batting, thank god!) were the opening batsmen. Even as the first overs have been dramatic, to say the least in many matches in this year’s IPL, this match’s first over was by far the most ‘happening’. On the second ball of the over, McCullum hit a six, the next ball was a wide, and the one after that, saw the fall of a wicket, that of McCullum!
As McCullum departed after having made six runs off three balls on an LBW by Nehra, the drama was far from over. Next person to come in was Brad Hodge, who had proved a formidable opponent in the past for many teams. He went down after he was caught by wicketkeeper AB de Villiers and got out for a duck! Thus, Nehra bowled a wide, was hit for a six, AND took two wickets, all in the first over!
Morne Van Wyk, who came in after Hodge, didn’t last long and was soon replaced by Yashpal Singh. Singh, too, didn’t perform well and got out after making only 13 runs. Wriddhiman S. came in next and went out on a duck, too! Just as Nehra took two wickets in the first over, so did Amit Mishra in the eighth over. Both, Singh, as well as Wriddhiman S., were dismissed by Mishra in the eighth over. After Wriddhiman’s dismissal, Moises Henriques came in.
At the end of 10 overs, the KKR scoreboard stood at 52-5. The sixth wicket fell soon after the Strategic Break, when Henriques was stumped out by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik on a ball by Mishra. Henriques had made only two runs off eight balls by then. Ajit Agarkar came in next. The seventh wicket was that of the man who till then had seen his team mates come and go one by one – Ganguly. When he was caught by David Warner on a ball by Dirk Nannes after having made 44 runs off 45 balls, everyone knew the game was over for the KKR.
After Ganguly, in came Murali Karthik. He and Agarkar struggled to get a decent score on the board, and, on the last ball, when Agarkar got out, the KKR scorecard read 123 at the loss of eight wickets. Skipper Gambhir and Warner were the openers for the DD. As was evident, the target was an easy one, and thus, the duo set about getting it by hitting fours and sixes. However, the first wicket did fall, and it was that of Gambhir, who got out on a ball by Henriques (catch Hodge) after having made 18 runs off 24 balls. By then, the DD had crossed the 50 run mark.
De Villiers came in next. Less than 15 runs after the dismissal of Gambhir, the other opener, Warner, fell victim to Ishant Sharma’s fantastic bowling and was caught by Van Wyk after he had made 36 runs off 23 deliveries. T. N. Dilshan came in next, but didn’t stay on the crease too long and was soon replaced by Dinesh Karthik. At the end of 10 overs, the DD stood at 72-3. After the loss of three wickets in the first 10 overs, the DD did not lose any more wickets after the Strategic Break till the end of the innings of the match which they won by a whopping seven wickets! The DD achieved the target of 124 runs in only 17.1 overs, and with 17 balls remaining, a victorious DD team ended with D. Karthik at 17 not out, and Villiers at 40 not out (32 balls).
The DLF Maximum award was given to two players of the losing side, Ajit Agarkar, and Saurav Ganguly, while the Man of the Match award was given to Amit Mishra for taking three wickets at a fantastic economy rate.
This was definitely the case in the match between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Delhi Daredevils (DD) which was played on May 5, 2009.
The KKR won the toss and elected to bat first. The DD team, once again, was captained by Gautam Gambhir, as Virender Sehwag was missing from action for the second match in a row.
The bowling attack of the DD was opened by Nannes to Morne Van Wyk and Brendon McCullum. It was a good first over as only three runs were made from it. The first wicket for the DD came when the KKR skipper McCullum got out in the seventh over (ball Sangwan, catch Ashish Nehra) after making 35 runs off 29 balls.
Brad Hodge came in next, but he too didn’t stay long on the crease. After his dismissal came Henriques. Van Wyk, who had been playing quite well, got out in the 20th over, when Nehra bowled him out (superb bowling, the stump flew straight off). Wriddhiman S. came in next, for the last three balls. Thus, the KKR ended at the score of 154-3, their highest in this season.
Ishant Sharma opened the bowling attack for the KKR, while the openers for the DD were David Warner and skipper Gautam Gambhir. He, as well as the other bowlers of the KKR team, however, were not able to take any wickets until finally, Ajit Agarka struck gold when he dismissed David Warner, who was caught by Henriques.
The first wicket, however, was the last for the KKR, as no other wickets of the DD fell after that. And soon, they had achieved the required runs by hitting a few good fours and sixes.
The KKR batted well, but their fielding was miserable, and it was one of the reasons for their losing the match. There were innumerable times when the players of the DD were dropped by them.
However, it was a good effort by them, and while the Man of the Match was given to the DD captain Gautam Gambhir, the ‘DLF Maximum’ award was picked up by the KKR skipper Brendon McCullum. Thus, at least as far as both the captains were concerned, it was a good match, with some amount of bad luck!
By: Rashida Shabbir Arsiwala http://rasharsiblog.blogspot.com/
This can be said of the match that was played between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday, May 1, 2009.
The MI won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers for the MI were, as always, Sanath Jayasurya and Sachin Tendulkar. People had high expectations of these two players, but, keeping up his non-form from the last match, Jayasurya failed to stay on the field for long and fell victim to Ashok Dinda’s ball (catch Morne Van Wyk) after making six runs off eight balls, and the MI scoreboard stood at 19 – 1.
Harbhajan Singh was brought in at one down to weave magic with his bat as he had done against the very same team during the last time that they played against each other, but he failed to do so this time, and got out on a ball by Murali Karthik (catch Dinda) after making six runs off seven balls.
Master blaster Tendulkar hit the first six of the innings in as late as the sixth over. After Bhajji’s wicket fell, Abhishek Nayar came in. Not too long after the second wicket, the next big blow was struck to the MI, when Tendulkar got out after making 34 runs off 30 balls (ball Ajit Agarkar, catch Brendon McCullum) in an innings consisting of two sixes and one four.
Less than 20 runs after Tendulkar got out, Abhishek Nayar also got out, after making 10 runs off 13 balls. Nayar got out after being bowled by Brad Hodge. Next man in was Graham Napier, and his was also the fifth wicket, as he got out – on a ball by Chris Gayle which was caught by McCullum – after making 15 runs off 16 balls.
Rahane came in at five down. While none of the players made any significant contributions to the batting side – except for Tendulkar who made 34 runs – one man who stood out, was J. P. Duminy, who made a half century. At the end of the first innings, thanks to Duminy’s half century, the score of the MI stood at 148 – 6.
There were some changes in the batting line-up of the KKR, as Chris Gayle and Saurav Ganguly opened the batting instead of Gayle and McCullum. This step was probably taken keeping in mind the fact that the skipper has not been in great form this season. However, as Zaheer Khan opened the bowling attack for the MI, the changes in the opposite team didn’t make a difference, because they lost a wicket after only one run just the same, in the form of Ganguly, (0 runs, one ball), who was bowled out by Zaheer. Brad Hodge, who was to turn the match around for the KKR, came in after Ganguly’s dismissal.
The second wicket of the KKR was that of their other opener, Gayle, who went down the same way, and on a ball by the same bowler who got Ganguly out; he was bowled by Zaheer after making seven runs off seven balls. Van Wyk came in next.
There was some drama on the field when Bhajji called for an out after stumping, but it turned out it was his hand that had tumbled the wicket, and not the ball. In the seventh over, Hodge went for a huge six, and since the ball landed on the roof of one of the stands, a new ball had to be used.
Although the MI have been appreciated for their excellent improvement in fielding, thanks to their fielding coach Jonty Rhodes, Nayar dropped Hodge (while he was bowling) in the eighth over, and this proved expensive for the MI later on in the match.
The best third wicket partnership was recorded in the IPL between Hodge and Van Wyk, but Wyk fell on a ball by Napier which was caught by Duminy, after he made 32 runs off 35 balls. Hodge, who had been playing a fabulous innings, hit two fours in a row to complete his 50.
After Wyk’s wicket fell, Laxmi Shukla came in and he got out in much the same way as did Ganguly and Gayle, and also by the same bowler. Yes, he too was bowled by Zaheer Khan! The next wicket was that of Hodge, who finally got run out (after causing much damage to the MI) by Duminy. He had managed to make 73 runs off just 60 balls by then.
Then, McCullum, who had come in at four down, got out after making only five runs off seven balls, once again not playing well. In the end, it was down to Wriddhiman S. and Agarkar, but they couldn’t save the KKR, and they ended at 139 – 6 after 20 overs, having lost the match by 9 runs.
The MI, who must have been upset after their loss against the King’s XI Punjab in the last match, must have been happy with themselves after this match. The Man of the Match was J. P. Duminy of the MI for his fabulous half century.
