IPL 2018 | All-round Knight Riders outclass Daredevils in Eden Gardens

04/16/2018

KKR produced a consummate performance in every aspect of the game to beat DD by 71 runs in a one sided affair at the Eden Gardens today. After Nitish Rana (59) and Andre Russell (41) guided the hosts to 200, Kuldeep (3/32) and Narine (3/18) destroyed the DD middle order to secure the points for KKR.

Brief Scores : Kolkata Knight Riders 200/9 (Nitish Rana 59, Andre Russell 41; Rahul Tewatia 3/18, Trent Boult 2/29) beat Delhi Daredevils 129/10 (Glenn Maxwell 47, Rishabh Pant 43; Sunil Narine 3/18, Kuldeep Yadav 3/32) by 71 runs.

After winning the toss on his return to Eden Gardens, Gautam Gambhir won the toss and put his former side in to bat first. The former KKR skipper also announced that Chris Morris has recovered from his illness and had replaced Dan Christian in the side. Gambhir’s successor, Dinesh Karthik, opted to play Tom Curran instead of Mitchell Johnson for this game.

Rana and Russell power KKR to 200 after slow start

Trent Boult, another former KKR player, got the visitors off to a great start with a maiden in the first over and the wicket of Sunil Narine in the next, restricting the hosts to just 12 of the first three overs. However, the incoming Robin Uthappa skinned Shahbaz Nadeem for 18 runs to take the score to a respectable 50/1 off the powerplay overs. Just as KKR appeared to be building some sort of sustainable momentum, Robin Uthappa got a leading edge of a Nadeem delivery to talk the long walk back with 35 runs to his name. But Nitish Rana decided to go after Nadeem and with 14 runs in the 10th over, ensured that KKR reached a score of 85/2 by the midway point. Gambhir decided to bring Shami into the attack and it bore instant result with Lynn mistiming a shot straight to Jason Roy at long on. After Dinesh Karthik was dismissed for 19 in the 14th over, the scoreboard showed that KKR had managed 123 runs. However, Russell came in as a man on a mission and over the next 18 balls he, along with Rana, added 54 runs. With 177 on the board with three overs left, it appeared KKR were destined for a huge score. But keeping with the trend of the game, DD made a comeback into the contest with both players dismissed in a space of nine balls. Eventually, KKR ended their innings with a score of 200 on the board in their allotted 20 overs.

Delhi’s middle order collapse ensures comprehensive win for KKR

Defending a competitive score, KKR started off proceedings in the most perfect way possible. They got rid of the dangerous Roy in the very first over before Shreyas Iyer joined him in the next. Mavi then compounded the misery on them by sending the ever reliable Gambhir packing in the third leaving the Knight Riders reeling at 24/3. However, Pant and Maxwell saw off the initial burst, while scoring runs as well, to take the score to 56/3 at the end of the powerplay. Knowing that the target was not an easy one, Pant ensured that the required run rate did not go over 11 but in his hurry to keep the scoreboard ticking, he found Chawla at deep midwicket to fall seven runs short of a half century. Even though the incoming Tewatia did not last too long, Delhi were still in control of their destiny at the midway point of their innings with the scoreboard reading 99/5. But it all went south in the next two overs as Maxwell, Chris Morris and Vijay Shankar all threw away their wickets in a space of seven balls with Kuldeep and Narine wreaking havoc. After breaking the spine of the DD side, it was only a matter of time before the KKR completed the comprehensive win by an astonishing 71 runs.