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!
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.
He entered with style, made a comeback in style and left in style, leaving people asking for more. There are a bagful of achievements to his credit but what Sourav Chandidas Ganguly will be remembered most for is the revolutionary change in mindset he brought to Indian cricket and Indian cricketers.
Previously when Indian teams walked on to the turf outside the sub-continent, everyone thought that a draw would be a more than satisfactory result. It was Sourav who inspired his men into playing fearless cricket and it is his legacy that Mahendra Singh Dhoni carries forward.
Tears barely escaped surfacing as an emotional “Maharaja” crossed the rope one last time in the India jersey at Nagpur. It was a befitting gesture from Dhoni to let Sourav lead the side for the last few overs. As a fan of cricket in general and Indian team in particular it was nice to see the younger lot acknowledge the contribution and achievements of the seniors.
Some news channel reported that the team will be throwing a big party for Dada at the team hotel and that Dhoni had also exchanged his Captain’s suite at the team hotel with Ganguly’s. It is a small but sweet gesture but one that would seldom cross minds of most people in the world.
He deserves every bit of it. After all he is the man who has the biggest hand in the state of happy affairs that Indian cricket finds itself today in. We have always had the talent but players have lacked the tenacity and the aggressive attitude required to tumble tough opponents. Ganguly instilled this tenacity and the self belief that, “Yes we can”.
While his famous T-shirt furling act at the Lords’ balcony demonstrated the tit for tat aggression he stood for, his persistence to include Harbhajan in the 2001 test series against Australia accounted for the belief he had in himself and his men. He provided impetus with attacking shots at the head as India were about to rewrite history with their successful chase of England’s 325 at Lords in the Natwest final.
People may remember him as the “Leader par excellence” and the “God of the off side” but equal charisma lay in his effortless clearing of the fence especially the demolition with disdain of left arm bowlers.
He may have retired and might not be a part of the Indian dressing room but for us Dada is not a cricketer but a phenomenon which will run with the Indian team till they are ready to play aggressive and ready to take the bull by the horns and whenever they say, “Yes we can”.
Indian Premier League (IPL) performance fianlly got Yusuf Pathan and Pragyan Ojha earn berths in the one-day match sqad in the Indian National Team for the tri-series in Bangladesh starting next month as also in the Asia-Cup in Pakistan.
Selectors held a meeting at Mumbai on Friday and decided on a much young squad for both the tournaments and dropped older player Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Earlier the duo was also ignored for the one-day team during the recently concluded triangular series in Australia.
