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Knight Riders puts up a modest total

S. Sabanayakan

Delhi Daredevils attack comes up with a disciplined performance

— Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

GOOD KNOCK: Salman Butt came good for Kolkata Knight Riders in the match against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday.

KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders struggled to put up a fighting total on the board against a disciplined Delhi Daredevils attack in the DLF Indian Premier League Twenty20 match at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.

Electing to bat, the home side, buoyed by a steady 48 (44b, 7x4) from opener Salman Butt and his 40 runs partnership for the third wicket with David Hussey, reached 133 for six in 20 overs to set the Delhi side a modest target.

Openers Butt and Aakash Chopra began cautiously against Glenn McGrath and Pradeep Sangwan to take the scoere to 35 before Chopra went out for 13.

In walked skipper Sourav Ganguly and he greeted young Vijaykumar Yomahesh with a six off a free hit before being his first victim for 7.

A wild swing without getting into the line meant Ganguly’s wicket got rattled.

Fruitful partnership

At two down for 27, the team needed a fruitful partnership and the two provided the 40-run stand in 6.2 overs. Under pressure to get runs, the lower-order failed excepting Laxmi Ratan Shukla who hit 10 off eight balls.

Hussey was the second highest scorer with 31 off 31 balls with two 6s.

The Delhi bowling was steady and gave little away on what looked like a slow pitch.

Backed by keen fielding, the bowlers made the life of the batsmen miserable.

Vijaykumar Yomahesh and Farveez Maharoof picked up two wickets apiece.

Two changes

Knight Riders made two changes to the team that beat Deccan Chargers brining in Shoaib Akhtar in place of Umar Gul and left-arm spinner Syed Iqbal Abdullah for Murali Kartik.

Daredevils too brought in local boy Manoj Tewary in place of Dinesh Karthik giving the tough job of wicketkeeping to South African A.B. de Villiers.

Five players released

Meanwhile, Knight Riders decided to release five of their fringe players — Ranadeb Bose, Sourasish Lahiri, Rohan Banerjee, Yashpal Singh and C. Pujara — to bring down the size of the contingent to 18 from 23.

This, as explained by the team ‘boss’, Shah Rukh Khan, was done to allow the coach John Buchanan to concentrate on the core group with the IPL nearing an end.

The scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Butt c McGrath b Yomahesh 48, A. Chopra c Maharoof b Sangwan 13, S. Ganguly b Yomahesh 7, D. Hussey c Tewari b Maharoof 31, T. Taibu (run out) 7, L.R. Shukla c Gambhir b Maharoof 10, W. Saha (not out) 5, I. Abdullah (not out) 1, Extras (lb-3, w-7, nb-1): 11, Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 133.

Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-47, 3-87, 4-99, 5-119, 6-129.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: McGrath 4-0-22-0, Sangwan 4-0-29-1, Yomahesh 4-0-34-2, Maharoof 4-0-25-2, Mishra 3-0-13-0, Sehwag 1-0-7-0.

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