IPL 2016: KKR inflict 4th straight defeat on Dhoni’s men
Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century and a late surge by Andre Russell helped KKR defeat Rising Pune Supergiants by 2 wickets to inflict a 4th straight win on Dhoni’s men at Pune on Sunday. Earlier, Pune had posted 160 runs on the board, thanks to a valiant knock of 67 by opener Ajinkya Rahane.
Brief Scores: RPSG 160/5 in 20 overs (Rahane 67(52), Shakib 1/14, U Yadav 1/16) lost to KKR 162/8 in 19.3/ 20 overs(S Yadav 60(49), Pathan 36(27), Bhatia 2/19) by two wickets
Kolkata Knight Riders, chasing a sizeable target, got off to the worst possible start as Albie Morkel trapped Robin Uthappa in front of the stumps on the first ball of the innings. Suryakumar Yadav came in at No.3 and joined forces with Gambhir to score 15 runs off the rest of the first over to give the match an edge. And Suryakumar Yadav looked to thrive on that edge. The Mumbai boy first took the attack to Thisara Perera in the second over, before depositing Morkel over the fence in the third. What was turning out to be a good third
Suryakumar Yadav continued to keep the runs flowing at the other end and guided the Knight Riders to 59 runs at the end of the powerplay to keep in touch with the required run rate. With the strategic timeout taken immediately after the powerplay, Dhoni brought in Rajat Bhatia after the break in an attempt to stem the run-flow. Bhatia took the pace off the ball and troubled Shakib Al-Hasan before bowling the southpaw out for 3 runs. The wicket encouraged Dhoni to continue with his slower bowlers and Ankit Sharma, Murugan Ashwin, and Rajat Bhatia choked the scoring rate in the middle overs. Suryakumar Yadav looked determined to seal his place at No.3 with some gritty batting and brought up his fifty in the 12th over. With Yusuf Pathan taking care of the run-rate at the other end, Yadav looked content taking singles and rotating the strike. Yusuf dispatched Murugan Ashwin for sixes in consecutive overs to bring the required run rate below nine.
Dhoni brought his trump card, Bhatia, back in the attack and he again struck for his captain, this time removing the burly Yusuf Pathan and leaving the Knight Riders needing 47 runs in the last 5 overs. With Suryakumar Yadav perishing in the 16th over, Pune seemed to have given themselves a lifeline but some hard hitting by Russell took KKR to a win, with Umesh Yadav hitting a maximum to finish things off.
Gautam Gambhir had earlier won another toss on Sunday night, and the Kolkata Knight Riders opted to bowl first at Pune. Rajagopal Sathish filled in for the injured Manish Pandey for KKR. Dhoni attempted to stop Pune’s downslide by replacing the injured Kevin Pietersen with Albie Morkel, and Ishant Sharma gave way to Saurabh Tiwary.
Morne Morkel and Andre Russell started the innings with some tight and miserly bowling as KKR conceded only 6 runs in the first 2 overs. Ajinkya Rahane upped the ante in the next over, and went after Morne Morkel to send the
With the track assisting spin and the ball holding a tad extra, Gambhir brought on his slower bowlers to arrest the scoring rate. Rahane and Steve Smith, however, kept the scoreboard ticking with some smart singles and twos. However, in the 13th over, Steve Smith’s over-enthusiasm to sneak a single cost him his wicket. Rahane punched Rajagopal Sathish’s delivery straight back at the bowler, only to find Smith way down the pitch, leaving Sathish with an easy run-out. With the team struggling at 80/2, Thisara Perera came out in an attempt to up the scoring rate.
After hoisting Sathish for a maximum on the second ball of the 15th over, Perera perished on the 5th ball of the very same over after misjudging the pace of the ball as he saw his stumps light up. Some lusty blows from Dhoni at the end helped Pune reach a respectable total of 160 at the end.Â