Kolkata Knight Riders rode home today with yet another clinical victory against a struggling Delhi Daredevils. Leading from the front yet again was their skipper and Orange Cap holder Gautam Gambhir.
Earlier in the game, Kolkata won the toss and chose to bowl. Sanju Samson was again the bright spot in Delhi’s batting line-up but he couldn’t find enough support from his teammates. DD ended up making a mess of their final overs setting a below-par target of 161 for the in-form KKR.
When KKR came to bat, their trump card Narine was bundled out early by Rabada and Uthappa joined his captain. There was no turning back from that moment as the duo batted DD out of the game.
Extra Cover: IPL 2017: KKR vs DD, 5 things that went wrong for Delhi Daredevils
With this loss, the Daredevils hit rock bottom on the points table.
Take a look at how the players of both teams fared in this game.
Delhi Daredevils
Sanju Samson – 7/10
The in-form Samson was the pick of the Delhi batsmen yet again. Initially, he got off to a flier scoring 25 runs off 9 balls. After the team lost Karun Nair, he tried to steady things with Iyer. He scored 60 off 38 balls and all his sixes were a delight to watch, however, he was involved in a dreadful drop along with Amit Mishra.
Karun Nair – 4/10
Nair was a regular opener when he played for Rajasthan Royals but Delhi experimented with him at number three without much success. In today’s game, he was asked to open with Samson. Though it looked like he had started well, he struggled when Narine came on to bowl, and was trapped leg before in the bowler’s very first over.
Shreyas Iyer – 7/10
Iyer had a rather slow start scoring just 18 runs off 21 balls by the end of the 12th over. In the 13th over, he took on de Grandhomme for 14 runs and relieved some pressure. He was involved in a 75-run partnership with Samson and at that point of time, it really looked like DD would cross the 180 run mark.
Rishabh Pant – 3/10
Pant was going through a horrible run of form coming into this game having failed to score a run in his last two innings. After a good looking 4, he was trapped leg before by arguably Kolkata’s best bowler this season, Nathan Coulter-Nile
Chris Morris – 3/10
Morris couldn’t shine with either ball or bat in this game. With some quality bowling, KKR did not let the big-hitter free his arms. He was also on the receiving end of some breath-taking striking from Robin Uthappa.
Corey Anderson – 2/10
Anderson had a horrible day with the bat as he scored only two runs and attempted to give away his wicket three times. The first two times, he was dropped by Kuldeep Yadav but eventually he got himself into a mix-up and threw away his wicket.
With the ball, he was expensive with an economy rate of 9.52. DD should consider going back to Mathews instead of the New Zealander, or even Marlon Samuels, now that he is available for the rest of the tournament.
Ankit Bawne – 2/10
Like Nair, Bawne struggled to score quickly enough even though he came in to bat in the last five overs. It really slowed down Delhi’s innings as they ended up scoring only 37 runs off the last 6 overs.
Pat Cummins – 4/10
Pat Cummins had an ordinary day. Apart from a couple of good deliveries, he was unable to create wicket taking chances and it hurt his team.
Kagiso Rabada – 7/10
Rabada was the sole wicket-taker for Delhi Daredevils today. He dismissed Narine early on and ensured KKR did not get off to a flier in the power-play. He picked up the wicket of Manish Pandey later on but by then, KKR had already run away with the game. Rabada finished with figures of 2 for 15 off 3 overs when other DD bowlers were taken apart.
Zaheer Khan – N/A
It was an unfortunate game for Zaheer Khan. He started off well but in the second over, he pulled up with what looked to be a torn hamstring and left the field.
Amit Mishra – 1/10
Mishra was hands down the worst player in the game today. Not once did he look like he was in control with the ball and gave away 36 runs in his 3 overs. Apart from his dreadful bowling effort, he was involved in a dropped catch along with Samson when Uthappa was going well. After allowing the ball to fall between them, he gave Samson an ugly stare even though it was a collective mistake. Poor sportsmanship really.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Gautam Gambhir – 9/10
After losing Sunil Narine early in the innings, Gambhir and Uthappa took control. Together, they put on 108 runs as they fought for the Orange Cap amongst themselves. After losing Uthappa, the skipper sustained the momentum and went on to score an unbeaten 71 off 52 balls. He was declared the Man of the Match.
Sunil Narine – 6/10
Today was a bowling day for Narine. He broke the opening partnership in the power-play and was economical as always conceding only 25 runs off his 4. He couldn’t give his team a blistering start with the bat like in the earlier games as his stumps were uprooted by Rabada early on.
Robin Uthappa – 8/10
After being given a life early on, Uthappa made the Daredevils pay. With Gambhir at the other end rotating the strike, Uthappa took on the bowling attack, especially Chris Morris and Amit Mishra. He struck four sixes and 5 fours in his innings of 59.
Manish Pandey – 4/10
By the time Manish Pandey came to the crease, KKR needed just a run a ball but he couldn’t finish the game. Like Narine, he was also beaten by the pace of Rabada.
Yusuf Pathan – N/A
Yusuf Pathan did not have much to do in this game as he was not given an over and did not need to contribute with the bat either.
Sheldon Jackson – 5/10
Jackson started off with a glorious boundary after he came out to bat. With his captain, he saw the team to the finish line. He was also involved in the run-out of Corey Anderson.
Colin de Grandhomme – 1/10
Grandhomme was expensive in his first over and handed Delhi some momentum. With ample options at his disposal, Gambhir did not bother to give him another over.
Kuldeep Yadav – 4/10
Kuldeep dropped Corey Anderson twice in a single over but still finished with decent figures of 27 for 0 after his 4.
Chris Woakes – 5/10
For a change, Chris Woakes was inexpensive today, however, he also went wicket-less. His fielding efforts cannot be overlooked though as he took part in a smart catch to dismiss Chris Morris in the final over of DD’s innings.
Nathan Coulter-Nile – 8/10
Coulter-Nile had another amazing day and picked up three wickets. He was easily the best bowler for KKR and was the major reason Delhi struggled towards the end to score runs quickly.
Umesh Yadav – 6/10
Umesh Yadav finished with 1 for 38 but he bowled better than his bowling figures indicate. He got the wicket of Sanju Samson at an important stage of the game.
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