The Hindu : Sport : Daredevils thumps Knight Riders, tops table

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport

Daredevils thumps Knight Riders, tops table

— PHOTO: AP

LEADING FROM THE FRONT: Stand-in captain Gautam Gambhir took Daredevils to a comprehensive win over Knight Riders on Tuesday.

DURBAN: Delhi Daredevils piled on the agony on Kolkata Knight Riders here on Tuesday, handing the ‘cellar dweller’ its seventh defeat in nine matches this season. With the win, Daredevils reached the top of the table with 10 points.

Set a target of 155, Delhi rode on a chancy unbeaten half-century by stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir (71, 57b, 7x4) and recorded a nine-wicket win with an over to spare as Knight Riders’ fielding went to tatters towards the concluding stages.

Picking boundaries

With openers Gambhir and David Warner picking boundaries at will off Ishant Sharma and A.B. Dinda, Delhi progressed to 57 without loss after six overs.

Warner (36, 23b, 5x4, 1x6) was out trying to whack Ajit Agarkar out of the park, a ball after McCullum had grassed Gambhir off the same bowler.

Two restrictive overs for just five runs by Murali Kartik threw the game wide open and Delhi needed another 79 from 10 overs.

Gambhir and Tillakaratne Dilshan (42 not out, 34b, 5x4, 1x6) went about their business without fuss, getting the all-important boundary every over and never allowing the asking rate to spiral beyond control.

Gambhir was handed another reprieve when the umpire dismissed a caught-behind appeal off Moises Henriques when the left-hander appeared to have got a genuine edge.

Earlier, a racy 74 (48b 11x4) by opener Morne van Wyk enabled Kolkata to post 154 for three after skipper McCullum had elected to bat.

Van Wyk added 58, 49 and 40 with McCullum, Hodge and Henriques respectively.

McCullum hit Dirk Nannes’ third over for 21 runs that included a massive six over square-leg and Kolkata reached 54 for one after six overs mainly through the skipper’s 35 (29b, 1x4 3x6).

The New Zealander departed soon to a miscued pull off Sangwan that found Ashish Nehra at fine-leg.

Van Wyk took his side to 69 at the 10-over mark and upped the tempo after the break, scoring three consecutive boundaries in Sangwan’s 13th over.

Superb bowling

Kolkata’s attempts at getting a move on were hindered by superb bowling by Amit Mishra and Nehra who bowled eight overs between them for just 41 runs.

Henriques (30, 24b, 2x4, 1x6) and van Wyk added 49 in 6.2 overs before the South African was bowled by Nehra in the last over.

SCOREBOARD

Kolkata Knight Riders: van Wyk b Nehra 74 (48b 11x4), B. McCullum c Nehra b Sangwan 35 (29b 1x4, 3x6), B. Hodge c de Villiers b Sangwan 10 (19b), M. Henriques (not out) 30 (24b, 2x4, 1x6), W. Saha (not out) 1 (1b); Extras: (w-3, nb-1): 4; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 154.

Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-98, 3-147.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: Nannes 4-0-49-0, Nehra 4-0-23-1, Mishra 4-1-18-0, Sangwan 4-0-29-2, Bhatia 4-0-35-0.

Delhi Daredevils: G. Gambhir (not out) 71 (57b, 7x4), D. Warner c Henriques b Agarkar 36 (23b, 5x4, 1x6), T. Dilshan (not out) 42 (34b, 5x4, 1x6); Extras (lb-1, w-7): 8; Total (for one wkt. in 19 overs): 157.

Fall of wicket: 1-60.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Ishant 4-0-43-0, Dinda 2-0-17-0, Henriques 4-0-36-0, Hodge 2-0-18-0, Agarkar 3-0-24-1, Kartik 4-0-18-0.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport