Gambhir's half-century help KKR beat Daredevils by 8 wickets, snap 4-match losing streak
Skipper Gautam Gambhir and his opening partner Robin Uthappa once again provided a brilliant start to Kolkata Knight Riders' chase, but this time Gambhir stayed long enough to steer his team to a position where the match was reduced to mere formality.
After an opening stand of 106 runs, KKR wrapped up the chase of 161 against Delhi Daredevils in 18.2 overs to win the match by eight wickets on Wednesday, ending their four-match losing streak.
In their previous match against Rajasthan Royals, the duo provided even a better start (121 runs) but with the loss of six wickets for just two runs, KKR surrendered the game by 10 runs. Playing at his home ground on Wednesday, Gambhir (69 off 56 balls) this time didn't leave it to others. After a century stand with Uthappa (47), he had another 45-run partnership with Manish Pandey to put the match firmly in KKR's grip. At the time of his fall, KKR needed only 10 runs from 14 balls and an experienced Jacques Kallis, who was dropped for the last game, just came in to bat.
Delhi Daredevils, however, haven't learnt any lessons from their previous matches as they continue to make similar mistakes match after match. Meanwhile, the lower-order continue to provide meaning to their scores as the top-order batting once again disappointed by failing to lay a strong foundation for the team. Had it not been JP Duminy's and Kedar Jadhav's unbroken 55-run stand for the sixth wicket, Daredevils would have been defending a below par total.
KP's moment of madness
Despite successive failures, Delhi Daredevils persisted with the same batting combination. After the early dismissal of Qinton de Kock, out-of-form Kevin Pietersen walked out at No 3 but the way he has been playing and running himself out these days reveals a lot about his confidence in his batting.
After the goof-up against Rajasthan Royals last Saturday, which he survived because of a grave umpiring error, Pietersen was again at it. His struggle against left-arm spinners is well known in cricketing circles and his bad form is making it worse for him. Gambhir, knowing the fact, immediately employed Shakib Al Hasan against Pietersen and the struggle was well pronounced as he could score only one run off the seven balls he faced from Shakib.
In desperation, he jumped out of the crease, defended it and started running without even looking where the ball was going. The wicketkeeper moved forward, picked the ball and removed the bails. Unlike Saturday, this time Pietersen didn't even try to go back. Probably, that was the best thing he could do for his team.
His fall brought Dinesh Karthik to the middle and he along with Murali Vijay quickly provided some thrust to the scoring rate. But consistency has been Daredevils problem this season. As the things started to look good for them, Vijay played a foolish heave and was caught at long-on. Then Karthik top-edeged a Shakib delivery to get out two overs later.
Sending in laxmi Ratan Shukla (10 off 14 balls) at No 6 instead of Kedar Jadhav was another mistake by the Daredevils management as it deprived Jadhav 14 important balls that he could have used to team's advantage. He scored 26 off 15 balls with one six and three fours and remained unbeaten for the fourth time in succession.
With this loss, Daredevils' chances of qualifying for the playoffs are as good as over. KKR, on the other hand, rose to fourth position and can fancy their chances, at least for now.
Brief Scores
Delhi Daredevils: 160/5 in 20 overs (JP Duminy 40*, Dinesh Karthik 36, Kedar Jadhav 26*; Shakib Al Hasan 1/13, Umesh Yadav 1/26) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders: 161/2 in 18.2 overs (Gautam Gambhir 69, Robin Uthappa 47, Manish Pandey 23*; Wayne Parnell 2/21) by 8 wickets.