IPL 2017 | Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Lions- Player Ratings
IPL
Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn joined hands to showcase some explosive power-hitting to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a fantastic 10-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions. Earlier, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik took the Lions to 183 runs, but as it turned out, it was never going to be enough.
Gujarat Lions
Jason Roy - (6/10)
Despite known for his swaggering strokeplay, Roy failed to get going in his IPL debut today. He started well, smashing Trent Boult for two boundaries in the first over, but once Gambhir brought on the spinners, Roy started to struggle and eventually fell to Piyush Chawla getting a top-edge while pulling to give Yusuf Pathan a simple catch at square leg.Â
Brendon McCullum - (7/10)
The explosive Kiwi batter has it in him to take down any bowler on his day. Today, he got
Suresh Raina - (8/10)
Suresh Raina's
Aaron Finch - (6/10)
The Australian discard had a chance to bring his attacking self to the fore on a flat and lifeless track of the SCA Stadium. But his ever-going inability to play quality spinners was proved to be his undoing yet again as Kuldeep disturbed the furniture to bring curtains to an eight-ball 15.Â
Dinesh Karthik - (8/10)
Karthik is
Dwayne Smith - (4/10)
A forgettable day for the Caribbean all-rounder. Although he couldn’t get a chance to face a ball, he was handed one today as Raina started running out of options. He went for 23 runs in his only over of the game and will have to perform much better if he wishes to stay ahead of James Faulkner in the pecking order.Â
Manpreet Gony - (3/10)
Not a good at the office for the Punjab pacer. Coming in as the first change, he conceded 32 runs in two overs. There is absolutely no way that anyone can find a silver lining in those numbers.
Praveen Kumar - (7/10)
The Uttar Pradesh bowler not only bowled with a lot of energy and
Shadab Jakati - (6/10)
Jakati bowled three overs conceding 30 runs. He could have done much better had he bowled much wider to the left-hander Gambhir. But his straighter deliveries meant he found it difficult to deceive the KKR openers.
Dhawal Kulkarni - (3/10)
He has been there and thereabouts in the Indian team, but the Mumbai pacer had a forgettable night at Rajkot today. In the 2.5 overs he had bowled, the Lynn-Gambhir duo hit him all around the ground.
Shivil Kaushik - (6/10)
Even though Kaushik’s unique action makes him an exciting prospect, he was clearly predictable tonight when the KKR openers’ were making the mockery of the target. He was introduced early to unsettle Lynn's timing, but the 21-year-old struggled with line and length throughout his spells.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Gautam Gambhir - (8/10)
Gambhir showed his imperious self as he smashed his way to dismantle the hosts. He got the lion’s share of the strike early in the innings, scoring at par with Lynn. With Gujarat bowlers leaking runs from both the ends, the Knight Riders captain hit his 32nd IPL fifty and helped his secure their first win of the season.
Chris Lynn - (9/10)
Lynn was a surprise opening partner for Gambhir, replacing Robin Uthappa, but it was a move that worked wonders. He started his onslaught right from the first over and raced to 50 off just 19 balls. He ended with an unbeaten 93 off 41 in
Robin Uthappa - (6/10)
Didn’t get to bat. Did well with the gloves though.Â
Manish Pandey - (6/10)
The Karnataka batter was a mere spectator of the Gambhir-Lynn onslaught in the pavilion as he didn’t get to bat.Â
Yusuf Pathan - (5/10)
Pathan pouched the first catch of the day to dismiss IPL debutant Jason Roy and conceded 15 runs in the only over he got today. However, he didn’t get a chance to rectify his mistakes with the bat today.
Suryakumar Yadav - (6/10)
Yadav has been a vital cog of the KKR set-up for a while and today, he made his presence felt by taking two catches to dismiss Aaron Finch and Dinesh Karthik.Â
Chris Woakes - (6/10)
Chris Woakes bowled three overs today, but neither was he penetrative nor was he able to stem the run flow. Woakes had a good one-day series against West Indies, picking seven wickets from three matches and but his performance was quite ordinary today.
Piyush Chawla - (7/10)
Piyush Chawla underlined the importance of a leg-spinner in the T20 format by putting in four economical overs for KKR. Even though he conceded 33 runs and Chawla gave his side the early breakthrough by picking up the wicket of Roy.Â
Kuldeep Yadav - (8/10)
Coming back from his international stint, the leg-spinner bowler kept his good performance intact as he conceded a mere 25 runs at an economy rate of 6.25 while picking up two wickets. But he did make a horrendous fielding gaffe by not throwing the ball to dismiss Suresh Raina, who was stranded at the
Sunil Narine - (6/10)
The West Indian gave away 33 runs in his allotted overs but a lot more is expected from him by the Knight Riders. With Karthik and Raina settled in the middle, Narine failed to build pressure any sort of pressure on them.
Trent Boult - (6/10)
Trent Boult was missed in last year’s IPL as he failed to get a permanent place in the Sunrisers set-up. But after KKR snapped him at the auction, he was supposed to play a big role today. He managed to pick a wicket conceding 40 runs but it was his fielding display that was worth every rupee KKR paid for him.
