KKR vs DD, as it happened: Narine, Kuldeep spin Kolkata to comprehensive 71-run win

As it happened:

Nitish Rana (MoM): I was in good touch and this was an important knock. I had a fair idea what the bowler was about to bowl. My plan was to hit anything that was bowled on the body.

Dinesh Karthik: Feels good. This is the kind of the day where you make a move and it works. Wrist spinners are picked for a certain purpose. It’s going well and am trying to separate batting from captaincy.

Gautam Gambhir: We got to give it to KKR. We tried our level best but it’s going to be tough against three quality spinners like theirs.

KKR WIN BY 71 RUNS Gautam Gambhir says his team simply did not execute their plans against Russell. Almost nothing worked for Delhi today, who made a good start with the ball but Rana and Russell’s pyrotechnics in the middle-overs took Kolkata to a total that would eight out of 10 games. DK will be encouraged by Mavi’s good show. Kuldeep took a bit of a beating but chipped in with three crucial wickets. Narine swept away the tail in no time and the purple cap has now changed hands.

DD 129 in 14.2 Overs OUT! Delhi’s poor evening ends with Boult chipping it back to Kuldeep, who takes a safe catch off his own bowling. Kolkata stroll off the field with minimum fuss. Delhi collapsed meekly and need to forget this game quickly.

DD 128/9 in 13.5 Overs OUT! Narine gets another wicket – his third – as he goes for an almighty heave on the leg side. Russell at makes no mistake running in from deep mid-wicket. End of a miserable evening for Shami.
M Shami c Russell b Narine 7 (6)

DD 117/8 in 11.5 Overs OUT! Another one goes. Phew! This is poor application from Delhi, who are heading towards a huge defeat. Vijay Shankar misses the spin as the ball comes back in. The umpire raises the finger. The review was taken but the decision doesn’t change – the ball was hitting the stumps. Vijay Shankar b Narine 2 (4)

DD 116/7 in 11.3 Overs OUT! 100 IPL WICKETS FOR NARINE! I am struggling to keep track, folks. Wickets falling like nine pins here (sorry!) and Delhi are tottering. Morris, like Maxwell, aims at the top tier, misses it, and his stumps are dislodged. What a landmark. What a bowler.
C Morris b Narine 2 (3)

DD 113/6 in 10.5 Overs OUT! Bree Lee said Maxwell gave Robin Uthappa a Christmas gift in the commentary box. That pretty much sums it up. The Australian was sending Kuldeep on a leather hunt, whipping him for two big sixes over deep mid-wicket. Mavi ended up dropping one of those too. Maxwell, though, becomes greedy and goes for one more heave towards the stands but it was straight to the fielder.
G Maxwell c Uthappa b Kuldeep 47 (22)

DD 97/5 in 9.3 Overs OUT! This is easy pickings for Kolkata as Tewatia whacks it straight to Russell at extra-cover. The West Indian makes no mistake. That’s half the side back and Maxwell has a lone battle to wage. First wicket for Curran.
R Tewatia c Russell b Curran 1(2)

DD 86/4 in 8.3 Overs OUT! Oh dear, Pant was looking so good out there and he will be disappointed with that. It was a short delivery, straight at the stumps from Kuldeep, begging to be put away but Pant pulls it straight to Chawla at deep mid-wicket. Had the ball gone either side of him, it would have fetched him a boundary.
R Pant c Chawla b Kuldeep 43 (26)

DD 69/3 in 7 Overs PANT ON SONG! The partnership is racing away and its into the forties now. The crowd has gone silent as Pant is showing good application with pace and spin. Anything outside the off-stump is mercilessly put away and Pant does just that, creaming a six over extra cover.

DD 38/3 in 4 Overs 14-run over! There is no change in Delhi’s approach despite the wickets. Pant and Maxwell liberally use the long handle and get three boundaries in the over, which was bowled by Russell. The left-hander accounted for two of the fours.

DD 24/3 in 3 Overs OUT! SHIVAM MAVI GETS HIS FIRST IPL WICKET! What a moment in the India U-19 pacer as Gambhir drags the ball back to his stumps. Delhi are in tatters at the moment as it looks like the Delhi skipper’s return to his adopted home will end on a whimper. The ball came back in a touch.
Gambhir b Mavi 8 (7)

DD 13/2 in 1.5 Overs OUT! Lovely delivery, even better catch. Pitched slighly short from Russell outside off stump. Shreyas Iyer can only nick it to first slip, where Rana dives to his left and latches onto it, in a flash. Kolkata are cruising.
S Iyer c Rana b Russell 4 (3)

DD 4/1 in 0.5 Overs OUT! Dream start for Kolkata as Chawla spots Roy stepping down the track a deliberately drags one wide down the leg side. Great take from Karthik, who effects the stumping with ease.
J Roy st Karthik b Chawla 1 (3)

KKR FINISH AT 200/9 IN 20 Overs Good finish for Delhi. Tewatia gets three wickets in the final over as the batsmen try going after the off-spinner. Shubman Gill cuts straight to point, Piyush Chawla holes out to Rishabh Pant and Tom Curran lofts it straight to Maxwell at long-on. Kolkata still have a mighty big task on their hands.
Gill c Morris b Tewatia 6 (5)
Chawla c Pant b Tewatia 0 (3)
Curran c Maxwell b Tewatia 2 (3)

KKR 193/5 in 18.3 Overs OUT! Rana departs after a fine knock, trying to slice the ball over cover but can’t get the ball over the boundary line. Gambhir runs in and takes a safe catch. The search for big hits continue and KKR are inching towards the 200-run mark.
N Rana c Gambhir b Morris 59 (35)

KKR 178/5 in 17.2 Overs OUT! That’s the end of Russell. Boult shatters the stumps with a peach of a yorker. What a knock this was. He had the fastest fifty in sight and Delhi can breathe slightly easy.
A Russell b Boult 41 (12)

KKR 177/4 in 17 Overs RUSSELL SHOW! The fifty partnership comes up in 19 balls. 20 runs from the over and Shami is hammered for three sixes. There is no stopping Russell and he is mistiming sixes. The crowd has gone berserk and has moved to 41 from 11 balls. What do you do with Russell? Does he have aluminium in his bat?

KKR 145/4 in 15 Overs Effortless hitting, 22 from the over. The Russell carnage has been transported from Chepauk as he launches into Shami with some brutal hitting. He also gets a bit of luck with Roy not able to pluck a difficult catch, running in from deep. It’s flying in all directions at Eden Gardens and Delhi are in deep trouble.

KKR 117/4 in 13.4 Overs OUT! Oh DK, what have you done? The Kolkata skipper was looking in silken touch in the middle, effortlessly flicking Morris for a couple of boundaries in the same region. The South African, though, gets his man as DK finds Trent Boult at deep mid-wicket.
D Karthik c Boult b Morris 19 (10)

Not out – Dinesh Karthik survives a leg-before shout off Shami. She was given out by the umpire but replays showed that there was an inside edge. The Kolkata skipper wasted no time in taking the review.

KKR 102/3 in 12 Overs 100 up for Kolkata. Dinesh Karthik has wasted no time after coming to the crease, hooking Vijay Shankar for a huge six over fine leg. Twelve from the over as Kolkata quickly try to get a move on.

KKR 89/3 in 10.5 Overs OUT! What a catch by Roy at long on. The Englishman ran 10 metres forward, pounced forward and held on to the ball. Shami strikes in his first over and the pressure of getting big runs gets to Lynn. Big wicket for Delhi.
C Lynn c Roy b Shami 31 (29)

KKR 85/2 in 10 overs Fourteen runs from the Nadeem over. Nitish Rana is in some form here, and has taken no time to get proceedings underway. He first cuts behind point then steps out and pounds the ball over cow cover for a maximum. Delhi have also lost a review through a failed leg-before shout.

KKR 71/2 in 9 overs SIX! Nitish Rana gets off the mark with en enormous maximum over cow cover off Tewatia. The off-spinner, otherwise, was tight and slightly fuller and didn’t allow the batsmen to go over the top.

KKR 62/2 in 7.3 overs OUT! Just what many a doctor would have ordered for Delhi. Uthappa goes for another big heave but gets a top edge and Nadeem makes no mistake off his own bowling.
R Uthappa c & b Nadeem 35 (19)

KKR 60/1 in 7 overs Uthappa continues to go guns blazing. He creams spinner Tewatia for a massive six over deep mid-wicket with a sweep. The fifty partnership comes up in just 26 balls and the duo are motoring along nicely.

KKR 50/1 in 6 overs ANOTHER BIG OVER, 18 from it Nadeem is taken to the cleaners as Uthappa smashes TWO SIXES in the over and dispatches a short delivery to the point boundary. Nadeem’s length was too short and Uthappa showed how ruthless a seasoned campaigner can be.

KKR 32/1 in 5 overs Lynn in the groove, 13 from the over Just the tonic Kolkata needed after a sedate start. Uthappa started the run-flow with a chip back over the bowler’s head for the boundary. Lynn does the same in the last two balls of the boundary and it’s two more fours to the total. Morris made a horrendous misfield at long-on in the last ball, handing Kolkata a boundary.

KKR 19/1 in 4 overs Delhi in control. Spin introduced in the form of Nadeem but Delhi still keep the Delhi batsmen in check. Lynn did manage to get a boundary in the over but got a top edge that landed safely.

KKR 7/1 in 2.2 overs OUT! There goes the first one and Boult is in some form. Narine got a snorter, fends it and gets a nick. Pant and Maxwell work in tandem to ensure that the chance doesn’t go begging. The umpires check for a no-ball but Narine has to make the long walk back.
S Narine c Pant b Boult 1 (4)

KKR 7/0 in 2 over SIX! That’s how Lynn finally breaks the shackles. He played out eight dot balls before that and then connects full delivery off Morris, the ball sails over the deep mid-wicket boundary. Two more dots to complete the over.

KKR 0/0 in 1 over MAIDEN OVER Boult teases Lynn outside the off-stump and the Australian is a picture of frustration and tries to go over the top, he doesn’t connect. The left-armer offers a juicy full-toss off the last ball but Lynn can’t get the ball past the off-side ring. First maiden of the tournament.

7.58 pm: Ricky Ponting rings the bell to get things underway. Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn make their way to the centre. Trent Boult to bowl the first over.

Toss: Delhi win toss and Gambhir has opted to field first. Curran comes back for Kolkata, replaces Mitchell Johnson. Dan Christian goes out for Delhi, in comes South African Chris Morris.

Trivia: KKR’s Sunil Narine needs one more wicket to cross the 100-wicket mark in the IPL. He will become the first overseas spinner to achieve the feat.

Head to Head
Overall: Matches: 19, KKR won: 12, DD won: 7
At Eden Gardens: Matches: 7, KKR won: 6, DD won: 1

Skipper Dinesh Karthik will face a stern test when a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders lock horns with a resurgent Delhi Daredevils, led by two-time title winning former skipper Gautam Gambhir in a much-anticipated clash on Monday.

After back-to-back defeats, Kolkata will be desperate for a revival, while Delhi will hope to continue their momentum after snapping a two-match losing streak in style against Mumbai Indians.

Kolkata had made a winning start to their campaign against Royals Challenger Bangalore but successive defeats to Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the next two matches have put them in a spot of bother.

Delhi, on the other hand, lost to Kings XI Punjab in their opener and then went down against Rajasthan Royals in a rain-hit match. But they bounced back in style against Mumbai with Jason Roy smashing an unbeaten 91 in his debut match for DD.

India speedster Mohammed Shami is all set to return to his hometown for the first time after his wife had accused him of infidelity and domestic abuse last month. In the latest development, Jahan has filed a case at Alipore court on April 10 and Shami has been summoned within 15 days.

Shami has turned out in all the three matches for Delhi and a team official stated that there’s no question of his availability. On the field, it will be Gambhir who will have the upper hand despite Delhi’s poor 8-12 head-to-head record against Kolkata.

(With PTI inputs)

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (c and WK), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, R Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi, Tom Curran.

Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir (c), Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammad Shami, Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Daniel Christian, Jason Roy, Naman Ojha, Prithvi Shaw, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Avesh Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Harshal Patel, Manjot Kalra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sayan Ghosh.