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Daredevils rise to second

Nair, Billings slam half-tons as determined Delhi trounce Kolkata by 27 runs
Last Updated 30 April 2016, 19:31 IST

 Kolkata Knight Riders had not lost a match while chasing this season in Indian Premier League. But on Saturday their record was snapped by a determined Delhi Daredevils, whose impressive all-round performance fetched them a confidence-boosting 27-run win at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

Daredevils’ total of 186/8 was fashioned by the 105-run fourth-wicket stand between Karun Nair (68) and debutant Sam Billings (54) who bailed the team out from a top-order collapse. West Indian World T20 sensation Carlos Brathwaite then provided the late charge.

KKR, who had chosen to field, were shot out for 159 in 18.3 overs with Robin Uthappa staging a lone fight with his 52-ball 72.

Daredevils’ captain Zaheer Khan made early inroads in successive overs before Braithwaite took over. Zaheer removed in-form Gautam Gambhir, who mistimed a flick, before trapping Piyush Chawla leg before in the fifth over.

Braithwaite then worked his magic with the ball, taking three wickets in his quota of four overs. He dismissed dangerous Yusuf Pathan in his first over, before returning to dispatch Suryakumar Yadav, whose lofted shot was splendidly caught by Shreyas Iyer at mid-on in the 12th over. He then dismissed R Sathish in the 14th over with a short pitched delivery. It reduced KKR to 107/5 but Uthappa and Andre Russell kept KKR in the hunt with their 44-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Uthappa, stroking with aplomb, raised his half-century by swinging Amit Mishra for a six over long on. Not compromising on his attacking game, he freely targeted Mishra. The leg-spinner, however, struck back in the 17th over when he caught Russell off his own bowling. It swiftly swung the momentum in Daredevils’ favour.

Chris Morris then dealt KKR the final blow in the 18th over. He first ran out Jason Holder and a ball later, had Uthappa holing out to Nair at backward point. Daredevils packed off the remaining two wickets with the addition of six runs to raise their fourth win from six matches.

Earlier, the Daredevils’ top-order was cut down to 32/3 by the fifth over thanks to Russell’s lethal opening overs that dispatched openers Iyer and Quinton de Kock within two balls. But Nair and Billings bent their back to revive the hosts’ innings. Their presence steadily increased the run rate of Daredevils who had collected mere 37 runs in the first six overs of powerplay. 

But with their century stand, the next eight overs produced 69 runs. While Nair scored evenly on both sides of the pitch, Billings picked most of his runs on the leg side. The English wicket-keeper batsman liberally targeted the spinners, particularly veteran Australian chinaman Brad Hodge and leg spinner Chawla.

Nair, playing the role of anchor to perfection in absence of unwell JP Duminy, reached his 50 by sweeping Sunil Narine to the fence. However, Umesh Yadav, returning in the 17th over removed Nair and Morris within the space of two balls.

But Billings and Brathwaite didn’t let the momentum to dip. The 18th over bowled by Hogg leaked 18 runs, with Billing lofting him over long-off to raise his half century. The two batsmen departed in the last two overs, but by then Daredevils had propped themselves to a cushy position, garnering 80 runs in the last five overs.

score board

DELHI DAREDEVILS: Quinton de Kock c Hogg b Russell 1 (3b), Shreyas Iyer lbw Russell 0 (1b), Sanju Samson lbw Narine 15 (15b, 2x4), Karun Nair lbw Yadav 68 (50b, 9x4, 1x6), Sam Billings b Yadav 54 (34b, 3x4, 2x6), Chris Morris b Yadav 0 (2b), Carlos Brathwaite c Narine b Russell 34 (11b, 3x4, 3x6), Rishabh Pant run out 4 (4b), Mohammed Shami (nt out) 0 (1b). Extras (B-1, LB-6, W-2, NB-1) 10. Total (for 8 wkts, 20 overs) 186.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-2, 3-32, 4-137, 5-137, 6-174, 7-182, 8-186.

Bowling: Andre Russell 4-0-26-3, Jason Holder 4-0-35-0, Sunil Narine 3-0-22-1, Umesh Yadav 3-0-33-3, Brad Hogg 4-0-39-0, Piyush Chawla 2-0-24-0,

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Robin Uthappa c Nair b Morris 72 (52b, 4x6, 2x6), Gautam Gambhir c Iyer b Zaheer 6 (8b), Piyush Chawla lbw b Zaheer 8 (5b, 2x4), Yusuf Pathan c Mishra b Brathwaite 10 (9b, 1x4), Suryakumar Yadav c Morris b Brathwaite 21 (13b, 1x4, 1x6), R Sathish c Morris b Brathwaite 6 (7b, 1x4), Andre Russell c&b Mishra 17 (12b, 2x4, 1x6), Jason Holder (run out) 0 (1b), Umesh Yadav c Morris b Zaheer 2 (3b), Sunil Narine (run out) 4 (3b), Brad Hogg (not out) 0 (0b). Extras (LB-3, W-4, NB-6) 13. Total (all out, 18.3 overs) 159.

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-33, 3-58, 4-94, 5-107, 6-151, 7-152 ,  8-153, 9-159.
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 3.3-0-21-3, Mohammed Shami 4-0-33-0, Chris Morris 3-0-19-1, Carlos Brathwaite 4-0-47-3, Amit Mishra 4-0-36-1.


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(Published 30 April 2016, 19:31 IST)

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