Published: Apr 24, 2016, 11:37 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 24, 2016, 11:37 PM (IST)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 Match No. 20 against Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) by 2 wickets on Sunday night. Chasing a target of 161, KKR made a poor start, but recovered from it. They lost their way in between, and just when it looked like RPS will win the game, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) tailenders stepped up to guide their team to a win. With this win, KKR went back to the top spot in the IPL 9 Points Table, with 8 points in 5 matches and a Net Run Rate (NRR) of +0.92. Let us take a look at the highlights of the second innings: FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Rising Pune Supergiants vs Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2016, Match 20 at Pune
Poor start for KKR: Losing a wicket off the first ball of the innings is never a good start, and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made a poor start when they lost their batting mainstay Robin Uthappa on the first ball of their innings. Albie Morkel, into the Rising Pune Supergiants’ (RPS) side after the unfortunate injury to Kevin Pietersen, trapped the KKR opener in front of the off-stump off the very first ball. Looking to recover from the big jolt, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) slipped further when Gautam Gambhir was run out 11, while trying to steal a second run which was unwanted as well as very risky in that situation. RPS vs KKR, IPL 2016 Match 20: Highlights of 1st innings
Suryakumar Yadav steps up: The KKR vice-captain came in at the coveted No. 3 slot, and after a few swings and misses as well as a few awkward strokes, he found the rhythm. He cut anything outside off really well, and few hits down the ground were executed really well. Suryakumar rose to the occasion perfectly, and proved his mettle as a leader of the camp and as a batsman by striking his maiden half-century in the IPL history. Suryakumar’s innings ended when Kolkata were still far away from victory — in the 16th over — after he struck 6 boundaries and 2 sixes to score a fine 60 off 49 balls.
Ravichandran Ashwin gets vicious turn: MS Dhoni’s use of the ace Indian spinner has been questionable, but tonight, the RPS captain got the right-handed spinner very early in the innings. And there were results as well, not necessarily in terms of wickets. Ashwin turned the ball viciously. On a few occasions, the ball pitching outside off missed the leg stump, forcing the umpire to call it wide.
Yusuf Pathan comes to the party: The right-handed veteran batsman has not been consistent at all, but on Sunday night he played a valuable innings of 36 off 27 balls, studded with two sixes and as many boundaries. Pathan added 51 runs for the fourth wicket with Suryakumar, and most importantly, provided his side the stability they were in need after the top-order was blown off for cheap.
A thrilling finish: The dismissals of Suryakumar and Pathan put pressure on Kolkata, and when Andre Russell fell in the 18th over, KKR slipped further in to trouble. They were not left with much of batting, but a six from R Sathish, an embarrassing error by Saurabh Tiwary at deep fine leg and a Umesh Yadav six in the final over sealed the game for the Knight Riders.
(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
