Kolkata Knight Riders absolutely dominated Delhi Daredevils from the toss onwards, an excellent team effort in the field allowing Gautam Gambhir to supervise a chase that they executed with ease
That was a very fine all-round effort from Kolkata. Gambhir called correctly, presided over excellent bowling and fielding, and then handled the batting himself, his artistry and composure allowing his team-mates to play with freedom. They might not be favourites, but they’re certainly contenders.
Ten Doeschate turns down to fine-leg, they sprint away, and that’s that.
18th over: Kolkata 144-4 (Pathan 40, Ten Doeschate 1) Two needed to win.
The end of a superb innings. Gambhir goes to cut, the ball doesn’t bounce as anticipated, and he chops on.
18th over: Kolkata 144-3 (Gambhir 60, Pathan 40) Gambhir takes a single, then yerman Yusuf hurls his corporeal into an almighty swing, marmalising six over midwicket; you could almost hear the ball screaming in pain.
17th over: Kolkata 136-3 (Gambhir 59, Pathan 33) Gambhir guides two down to the point fence from Mishra’s first ball, and adds a single from his second. Pathan is in his baseball cap - in it’s way cooler than a helmet, in it’s way, uncooler than everything. He pounds one down the ground to advise anyone against pointing this out, and they amble another single.
Meanwhile, an email from Nick: “I wonder, can you possibly explain the reason for these tactical time out thingies because I can’t for the life of me work out what the point is.”
16th over: Kolkata 131-3 (Gambhir 55, Pathan 32) Pathan whips Coulter-Nile’s first ball for four, through midwicket, and then slams his fourth over cover. This is, like, so, over. And now it’s even overer, four more guided to the vacant third man; definitely time for a strategic interlude.
15th over: Kolkata 119-3 (Gambhir 55, Pathan 20) Tahir’s here, for all the difference that’s going to make now. A pair of nurdle-jog combos keep the score ticking, before one heading for leg is quickly escorted to fine-leg for four by Pathan. Amazing, how big people can be dextrous!
14th over: Kolkata 111-3 (Gambhir 53, Pathan 14) Gambhir has made this fandango look incredibly easy, and he raises his 50 from Mathews’ first ball, clubbing a pull in front of square for four. What form he’s in - his scores in the competition so far are 57, 58, 11 and 51*. Next comes the run down to third man, so that when he returns to strike, Mathews goes around the wicket to cramp him - but he still finds the angle to do likewise.
13th over: Kolkata 102-3 (Gambhir 46, Pathan 12) Mishra continues, and after two dots, catches Pathan on the pad with a googly. But Chris Gaffney says nup - inexplicably, at first and second glance. Which means that Pathan is there to punish the final ball through the covers for four, and Kolkata need 45 off 42 to win.
12th over: Kolkata 96-3 (Gambhir 45, Pathan 7) Joseph returns - I don’t know, what with Tahir hanging around. He starts with three dots, which are all very well, but Gambhir, stood just outside his crease, is in total control. He clobbers the not unexpected full toss that comes next to the cover boundary, and then waits for the final ball of the over, sending a square-drive hurtling to the fence.
11th over: Kolkata 88-3 (Gambhir 37, Pathan 7) Pathan is big, so the commentators assume a proportional relationship between build and fast-twitch muscle fibres. Mishra is on, and after Gambhir nudges one, Pathan misses the googly but does well to dig it out, earning two. Then, after a single each, oh my, Pathan steps back and annihilates four through midwicket via monstrous pull.
Iyer tries yet another run down, instead nicking behind. Delhi must get another wicket, and quickly.
10th over: Kolkata 79-2 (Gambhir 35, S Yadav 24) Why are cricketing run rates expressed to two decimal places, even when second is 0? Riddle me that! Duminy, who’s still not used Mishra, brings Coulter-Nile back - he goes around the wicket to Gambhir, and commences with a wide. The next one is where he intended the previous one, so is duly run down to third man for a single and a strike rotation, and Yadav does similar but different, finding the same area, but with a cross bat and when cramped. This is hard to understand, really - Coulter-Nile is only getting a wicket caught if a slog goes wrong, given the field, so Gambhir guides to third man again, before Iyer slams the next delivery into the pitch and watches it skate to the fence.
9th over: Kolkata 71-2 (Gambhir 33, S Yadav 19) Defending a shy total is tricky for a captain, but given that, realistically, Delhi need to bowl Kolkata out, the lack of close fielders seems like an oversight - especially with a batsman as skilful and experienced as Gambhir nicely set. He’s content to take a couple of singles, Yadav too, in between them, and then he crunches a slice over point to make this another that lowers the required run rate, noo doon to 6.90.
8th over: Kolkata 62-2 (Gambhir 30, S Yadav 13) Duminy, flush with the glow of wickets last game, fancies a dart at the left-handed Gambhir. But the right-handed Yadav fancies a dart at the right-armed Duminy, walloping him down the ground for six despite not middling his drive.
7th over: Kolkata 52-2 (Gambhir 29, S Yadav 4) Purple-cap model, Imran Tahir, into the attack; he’ll need to ensconce his head inside it more firmly if Delhi are to win. The problem is that Kolkata have no need to force things, and take singles off the first two balls, and then, after a dot, sprint another. But Mishra, at third man, returns hard - a direct hit and Yadav’s gone - but the keeper has to intervene, and though they go upstairs for a looksee, not out is a fairly call to make.
6th over: Kolkata 48-2 (Gambhir 27, S Yadav 2) Nope, it’s Mathews, and he releases a little pressure with a first-ball wide. Yadav then flips a single into the leg-side, before Gambhir waits for one that’s marginally wide - a square drive, and it’s sizzling away for for. And next, four more, late-glanced through the slip area - that was remarkably dextrous, making this is a good over for Kolkata already, the fact emphasised by three sharply-run singles. Delhi need to get Gambhir gone.
5th over: Kolkata 35-2 (Gambhir 17, S Yadav 0) An excellent over isn’t ruined by the aberration of leg-side filth to Gambhir - though it’s put away forthwith. Presumably we’ll be seeing Tahir or Mishra next...
We’ve got ourselves a ball game (perhaps)! Pandey reclines to ramp, the ball runs off the face of his bat, and directly into the hands of third man.
And there it is! Uthappa goes to turn one away towards midwicket, gets a leading edge, and Duminy takes a smart catch backpeddling at mid-off.
4th over: Kolkata 31-0 (Uthappa 13, Gambhir 13) Kolkata are motoring, and when Coulter-Nile overpitches, Uthappa is onto it with condescending ease, snapping four through midwicket. Still, he is still wearing gold pads, but. Seven from the over, and Delhi need wickets like a desert needs the rain (I actually wonder about this - maybe a desert doesn’t need, or want the rain).
3rd over: Kolkata 24-0 (Uthappa 11, Gambhir 12) Mathews takes over, and the batsmen respectfully nudge him around at the start of the over, before Gambhir flicks four to midwicket. The fielder dives, scoops the ball into his torsso, and see it go for four anyway, before a slower ball is knucked over mid-on. Joseph chases, dives, turns his ankle, and it’s four again.
2nd over: Kolkata 13-0 (Uthappa 6, Gambhir 6) Coulter-Nile will need to do some damage here, but after Gambhir eases his first ball to third man, a belated loosener goes down leg-side, clipping Uthappa’s pad and racing away for four byes. This is not a good start from Delhi, but they’re not far from a wicket when Uthappa seizes on width, carving over gully and Mathew’s leap. They run one.
1st over: Kolkata 6-0 (Uthappa 5, Gambhir 1) Joseph starts on the pads, and Uthappa wastes nae time flicking him to long-leg for four. The question, one imagines, is whether Kolkata just bat sensibly - if they do, it’d be hard to lose, but still invites Delhi into the game - or throw the bat, either taking the game away or making an entirely unnecessary mess. Joseph comes back well, only two more from the remaining five deliveries.
So, here we go: can Delhi’s leggies rescue their batsmen?
Well then. Delhi simply couldn’t get after it, starting slowly, losing wickets at particularly bad times, failing to accelerate, and then losing more wickets. At the same time, Kolkata bowled very well, keeping it tight at the same time as threatening - and taking wicket, Gautam Gambhir rewarded for his enterprising changes and attacking fields. If his team don’t win, they’ll need stern remonstration.
They’ve no business failing to accumulate them.
As irony would have it, Yadav gets a well-earned wicket with his worst ball. It’s wide, Mathews swings, but he’s made too much room, and bottom-edges behind, where Uthappa dives miles to his right, somehow getting both gloves to hold a jazzer.
20th over: Delhi 146-7 (Mathews 28, Coulter-Nile 1) This is a very good over from Yadav, quick and full. Just one run follows the wicket.
Coulter-Nile takes a single from the first ball to get Mathews on strike, so when he clumps to long-off next up, decides to make it two. Mathews is taking no such chances, standing his ground and sending him back - and excellent throw to the keeper, and he’s gawn.
19th over: Delhi 143-6 (Mathews 27, Coulter-Nile 1) Evening Angelo! Narine is just a tad short, and Mathews is incensed, clouting him over deep-square-leg for six. Evening Angelo! Narine gives him room outside off, and that’s six wasted over midwicket. Then, two down the ground to long-on and one to long-on - he picked out the fielder the second time, else that was four more. After which, Coulter-Nile does the sensible thing, taking a single, to let Mathews flick the final delivery of the over through midwicket for four.
desperate for a boundary, Jadhav backs away and chucks hands at a wide one - but he’s overdone it, toeing straight to backward-point.
18th over: Delhi 123-5 (Mathews 8, Jadhav 12) After the curiously quiet Mathews adds a single, it’s Yadhav to Jadhav, and he can muster but one, too. Then a wide, a single, a leg-bye and a single; Delhi badly need a boundary from the final delivery, and Jadhav tries. Oh.
17th over: Delhi 117-5 (Mathews 5, Jadhav 11) Sunil Narine, just what you need. His first ball snakes past Jadhav’s bat, and the next one too, as he goes to cut. This time, there’s a noisy appeal, but the umpire saw no edge, largely because there wasn’t one. Next, a leg-bye and a single,before Jadhav gets down onto one knee when Narine’s barely entered the delivery stride, mowing through midwicket for four, then goes again, this time swiping a floatier one over the fence at the same spot.
16th over: Delhi 105-5 (Mathews 4, Jadhav 1) Russell returns, and really, Delhi should be done. All the more so when four dots open the over, this is excellent bowling, pretty straight and deceptively sharp, and two singles off balls five and six won’t bother anyone from Kolkata.
Dearie, dearie Yuvi. He gets down to slog-sweep, misses, stops, wanders, does nothing, contemplates, does less, and oh! Look! The bails are off! Bye!
15th over: Delhi 103-5 ( Yuvraj 21, Mathews 3) Chawla continues, finishing off, and after Mathews adds a further single, Yuvraj looks to get down the track to him sharply. But he can’t find the room, forced to make do with another single, so next time he has the strike, he sits back in the crease and carts low through midwicket for four.
14th over: Delhi 96-4 ( Yuvraj 16, Mathews 1) Mathews shoves his first ball to midwicket which earns him one; he’ll likely need to manufacture a fair few more if this game’s to be a contest.
This was not entirely necessary - Tiwary goes to force a short one around his body from outside off, it’s really not there for him, and he doinks a catch into the grateful, warm hands of square-leg.
14th over: Delhi 95-3 (Tiwary 32, Yuvraj 16) Morkel, who looks an even better bowler this year than in previous years, is here to finish off. But the ploy to ruffle Yuvraj isn’t working, and his second ball, back of a length, is pasted flat over midwicket for six; the ease with which he did so is both inspiring and mortifying.
13th over: Delhi 87-3 (Tiwary 32, Yuvraj 9) Chawla’s back, and, after a single to Tiwary, Yuvraj defends twice, then smokes one over the bowler’s heed for four. Still, just six off the over, and 65% of the way through their allotment, Delhi still don’t seem to know what constitutes a good score.
12th over: Delhi 81-3 (Tiwary 32, Yuvraj 2) Narine returns, and after Tiwary nurdles to leg, Gambhir inserts a further close fielder for Yuvraj’s ego - that’s now two slips and a silly mid-off. And he’s beaten by the first ball which scurries away from him, before managing a single, which Kolkata won’t mind. Just three fro the over, and Delhi need to assert.
11th over: Delhi 78-3 (Tiwary 30, Yuvraj 3) Presumably aware of Yuvraj’s weakness against pace, plus how crucial he now is for Delhi’s chances, encourages Gambhir to reintroduce Morkel. His first ball is close to wide down the leg-side, and then Tiwary backs away, waving his bat to guide one past Russell’s drive and through cover for four. Then, after two dots, Morkel bangs one in and Tiwary forearms up into the leg-side - they start running, then stop, then again, again and again, somehow contriving to miss an easy single. But Tiwary quickly compensates, absolutely coating the next delivery with a furious pull, for four down to square-leg.
10th over: Delhi 69-3 (Tiwary 21, Yuvraj 3) Here come the off-breaks of Yusuf Pathan, and Tiwary hunches his body to deflect-reverse-sweep his first ball - away for four. Then a single brings Yuvraj onto strike, to the screeching pitch of the crowd, but he can muster just a single - and there follows the same from the over’s remaining four deliveries.
9th over: Delhi 60-3 (Tiwary 14, Yuvraj 1) So, this is the game, right here: if Yuvraj fails, I humbly and earnestly supplicate that Delhi are screwed.
Let’s talk strategy!
Iyer plans a slog-sweep, gets down, waits for the turn that doesn’t come, misses the overspin, hoiks, misses.
8th over: Delhi 54-2 (Iyer 28, Tiwary 12) But Iyer sees things differently, striding down the track to make a half-volley out of Russell’s second delivery, slamming it over long-on for six. He’s such a clean, brave, powerful striker of “the cricket ball” - if he can improve his ability to manipulate it around for ones and twos, he’ll be a player. And Tiwary is inspired, deflecting one from in front of his pads away for four more to backward point; better from Delhi.
7th over: Delhi 43-2 (Iyer 21, Tiwary 8) Chawla into the attack, and Tiwary immediately turns him away for a sprinted single that turns out to be a leg-bye. Then, Iyer advances, Chawla tries to beat him past his pads, and instead fires a wide that Uthappa can’t collect; it hurries away for four more. But the rest of the over is tight; this is looking like a low-scorer now, which you’d have to say favours Kolkata.
6th over: Delhi 34-2 (Iyer 19, Tiwary 6) Russell on for Morkel - another wicket here, and Delhi are in serious mither. But, after the batsmen have added a single each, Iyer has the stones to wait for the third ball so’s that he can unfurl a drive over mid-off that gets him four.
5th over: Delhi 26-2 (Iyer 13, Tiwary 4) Tiwary off the mark right away, flicking to fine-leg for four, then defends into the leg-side, twice.
Duminy bowled by Sunil Narine, Sunil Narine, Sunil Narine. As he often does, he gets a wicket in his first over, drifting one past the pads as Duminy goes down on one knee to slog-sweep. The ball then clips the kneeroll, which allowd him to pull it round with the crook of the arm of his top hand - and into leg stump.
4th over: Delhi 22-1 (Iyer 13, Duminy 5) Morkel gives Iyer some width, and he steps back in the crease, allows the ball to comes on, and jumps into a cut on the up that clears the infield and races away for four through backward point. And next, he times a flip through midwicket. running them up as Ten Doeschate pursues in vain from square-leg.
3rd over: Delhi 12-1 (Iyer 3, Duminy 5) The pace in the pitch is allowing the bowlers to just bowl - none of your cutters and your slower balls and your all of those. Duminy gets off the mark with one lifted towards square-leg - it bounces by the fielder - and then Iyer blazes a drive along the carpet straight to mid-off. They stay put, but a single immediately afterwards allows Duminy to time the first four of the innings, backwards of square on the off-side.
2nd over: Delhi 5-1 (Iyer 1, Duminy o) Duminy now appears certain that three is where he bats; odd it took so long, when he could simply have consulted me. But it’s Iyer on strike to begin with, and after a leg-side wide, he nudges a single down into the off-side, completing the scoring for the over.
There’s our answer. Agarwal goes at Morkel’s second ball, and when it gets big on him, lamps a straight one hectares up and over to fine-leg. Yadav watches well and takes it well, flopping forwards.
1st over: Delhi 3-0 (Agarwal 1, Iyer 0) So, which Agarwal will we see - the one who chucks hands at everything, or the one who calmly guides his team towards their target total? In the first instance, he’s sensible, then after two dots, has a swish, missing, then two more at two leg-side wides. The outfield is “very electric”, apparently, but we don’t get to see it; good start for Kolkata, and encouragement for the bowlers whether pace or spin - the pitch has carry and bounce.
Umesh Yadav is hurling practice deliveries here and there. It’s the countdown to the countdown.
Kolkata are huddling. Accordingly, come on Delhi!
Nathan Coulter-Nile, then. He looks to have put on a few pacelets in the last year or so; can he turn himself into a Test bowler? The problem, I guess, is that Australia’s bowling is nearing the batting embarrassment of riches that so haunted them through the 90s.
Bumble in the house, fusing east and west in blue-grey Nehru gilet, with peppermint shirt underneath.
Oh, safe! Get in! It’s time to learn more about Mark Butcher’s holiday! This needs its own series, really, it’s wasted as mere fluffer for live sport.
More Loveday.
Can Loveday play cricket?
Ravi Shastri is the quite simply the illest hypeman in the Dehli area. Gambhir calls tails, which never fails, which doesn’t fail here, and Kolkata will field. Delhi would’ve done likewise, and on similar basis - no one quite knows what the wicket will do, so no one quite knows what constitutes a good score.
Both teams are unchanged.
Artificial or not, the beauty of closed shop competition is that it’s amazingly hard to know what’s going to happen. Because it can only work if every team has great players, every team has great players, and, in the IPL, all that’s intensified by a game in which one man can be decisive. So, Kolkata, the reigning champions, were imperious in the first game, have won only once since, but will fancy themselves to win today; they might or they might not; while Delhi finally broke their record-equalling losing streak last week, then won again, and will reckon themselves ready to keep at it; they might or they might not. Which, more or less, is why we’re here.
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