Duminy carries Delhi home

JP Duminy hit a timely unbeaten 52 after skipper Dinesh Karthik set the foundation with a fighting 56 as Delhi Daredevils edged out Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets in a thrilling IPL Twenty20 cricket match, here on Saturday.

Electing to bat, KKR posted a decent 166 for five, thanks to some brilliant batting by Robin Uthappa (55) and Manish Pandey (48) at the Dubai International Stadium.

Delhi Daredevils batsmen responded to the challenge well and overhauled the target with three balls to spare.

Karthik batted superbly in the top order while Duminy finished it off in style with a six off Piyush Chawla.

Like KKR, Delhi too had to endure a bad start as Murali Vijay (0) was run out in the first over. Mayank Agrawal was off to a superb start as he hit some terrific shots but could not stay long as his short but entertaining 26 was ended by Morne Morkel.

Karthik and Ross Taylor had a job at hand but the Kiwi batsman was bowled by Jacques Kallis and Delhi skipper was joined by JP Duminy at the crease.

Karthik batted intelligently as he rotated the strike well and waited for bad balls to punish. He hit Piyush Chawla for a six and a four in the 10th over, gradually moving towards a half-century.

He completed his fifty with a sweetly timed chip off Shakib Al Hasan in the cover region but could not finish it off for his side, becoming a victim of wily spinner Sunil Narine.

Attempting a reverse sweep, Karthik could not read the line and was found plumb in front of the wicket.

Delhi now needed 44 runs from five overs. Manoj Tiwary was removed by Morkel when the batsman went for a big shot but failed to clear the boundary fielder.

Jimmy Neesham hit a huge six off Chawla and Duminy hit two sixes off country-mate Morkel to get close to the target.

DD required six runs off the last over, Chawla started well with a dot and wicket of Neesham in the second to make it interesting. Duminy sealed the fate of his side with a six off Chawla in the next ball.

Earlier, Robin Uthappa (55) and Manish Pandey (48) batted sensibly under pressure to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a competitive 166 for five.

Uthappa patiently added 64 runs for the third wicket with Pandey and then quickly shared a 57-run stand for the fourth wicket Shakib (30 not out) to lift KKR to a decent total after electing to bat.

After the game Duminy said he was far from being calm.

“I was not calm on the inside that is for sure. I just kept communicating with my partner,” the left-handed South African said after the match.

Asked if he specifically targeted fellow South African Morne Morkel, he said: “You got to target certain bowlers that you fancy yourself to take on. As anyone would know, Narine is not the one you want to take on. It wasn’t a plan to take on Morne. I was lucky, he is a quality bowler and am sure next time we play he will try to get my head off.”

KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir gave credit to Duminy for Delhi win.

“Once you get 165 on any kind of wicket you feel you are in with a chance with the kind of attack we have. JP played an unbelievable innings,” he said.

In awe of his coach Gary Kirsten, Daredevils pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile said the South African has provided him a never-before insight into cricket in general and his bowling in particular.

“Gary has been really good. He is always willing to come to you and have a chat and has always got an open door, which is fantastic.

His insight into cricket is like nothing I have seen before.

He has a lot of game awareness, which I haven’t really thought too much about,” Coulter-Nile, who did well to pick up two scalps in Saturday’s four-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders, said.

Coulter-Nile played for the Mumbai Indians last year. Asked how the transition has been so far, he said: “It has been an amazing time with the Delhi Daredevils. They are a great bunch of guys and I couldn’t have asked for a better team.”