Thursday, May 5, 2011

Kochi Tuskers trample Kolkata Knight Riders

KOCHI: Former Knight Brad Hodge's brutal last-over assault on Brett Lee at the Nehru Stadium was just the tonic Kochi Tuskers needed to breathe fresh life into their stuttering IPL 4 campaign.

That 21-run over gave the Tuskers a total (156/5) which was defendable with tight bowling and sharp fielding. And Mahela Jayawardene's boys did just that, pinning the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders down to 139/7 for a well-deserved 17-run win.

It was the Tuskers' second triumph over the Knights in two starts, having defended a much lower total at the Eden Gardens a fortnight back. The Tuskers, who now move to Indore for their final two 'home' games, have 10 points and need to win at least 3 out of their remaining four games. The Knights are slightly better placed, and must clinch 2 of their last 4 to be sure of a knock-out berth, but they have been given plenty to think about.

To chase down a target close to 8 runs an over, the Knights needed a brisk start and at least two of their top guns to fire. Eoin Morgan did (66 off 51 balls), but he alone didn't have it in him to carry KKR over the line.

Except the first 5 overs - when Morgan and Kallis collected 40 runs as Sreesanth and RP Singh erred in length and direction -- KKR didn't look to be in business. And this despite Morgan being there till the 19th over. The introduction of the tall and stockily built Prasanth Parmeswaran slowed down the scoring considerably. The left-arm pacer, Man of the Match in Kochi's previous game against the Daredevils, checked the run flow with some clever variations in pace and length.

With Vinay Kumar bowling steadily and Raiphi Gomez sending back Kallis and Gautam Gambhir off successive balls in the 11th over, KKR's task was made even more difficult. Manoj Tiwary struggled, for a change, and Yusuf Pathan wasn't given the luxury of freeing his arms.

KKR earlier read the pitch wrong and played an extra spinner in Sarabjit Ladda, 'resting' Lakshmipathy Balaji despite seeing a tinge of green on the 22-yard strip. The pedestrian leggie bowled no more than an over in which he conceded 13 runs.

Even then, the KKR bowlers did a decent job for 19 overs, when they looked on course to restricting the Tuskers to 140 or thereabouts. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene once more shone through, stroking a classy 55 (41b, 2x4, 2x6) to hold the Kochi innings together. But KKR hadn't counted Hodge playing a blinder.

He tore into fellow-Aussie Lee with a sequence of 6, 4, 6, 4, 1 off the final 5 balls of the innings to spoil the pacer's day. Hodge began the carnage with a pulled six over midwicket, and then as Lee pitched them up, peppered the offside with three more meaty blows.

Lee's fourth and final over was some contrast to his first. Brendon McCullum was made to look a novice as Lee tormented him with some late swing. The frustrated Kiwi slashed at a widish ball from Jaidev Unadkat to be held by Kallis at slip.

Parthiv Patel (21, 4x4) flattered to deceive in a short innings, falling prey to a short ball from Unadkat, while Ravindra Jadeja perished to a poor shot off Rajat Bhatia. It was left to Mahela to steer the ship through choppy waters, with some help from Michael Klinger. But the captain's fine effort may have gone down the drain had Hodge not cut loose at the very end.

toi

Sehwag special floors Deccan Chargers

HYDERABAD: The only three wins Deccan Chargers logged in IPL 4 came when they batted first. So when Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag put them in at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday, the Chargers had reason to fancy their chances after posting 175/5, their best in this edition that also matched their score against RCB in a winning cause.


How wrong they were was proved by the Delhi skipper who took the bull by its horns and in smashing a belligerent 119 (56b, 13x4, 6x6) not just added to the hosts' misery at the venue but also sounded the death knell for Chargers in this edition.

Sehwag, though, must thank Chargers for dropping him twice, both times off Amit Mishra, which allowed him to win it for Delhi.

The teams started on an equal footing going into this game with six points apiece. The Chargers had only themselves to blame for thinking they had the match in the bag after prising out three Delhi wickets for a mere 25 runs.

The rash of wickets only seemed to inspire Sehwag. He raced to his 50 in just 27 deliveries, Ishan Malhotra bearing the brunt, conceding 23 in his first over. Mishra went for 17 in his first apart from seeing substitute Ankit Sharma dropping a sitter that completely changed the game.

Then on it was a Sehwag sizzler. The century came off a mere 48 deliveries but more importantly for Delhi he made the target seem so ridiculously easy. He had done enough -- contributed 56 -- in the fourth-wicket partnership of 61 runs with Travis Birt as Delhi needed 90 from the last 10.

Sehwag whittled it down to 27 from the last five -- 64 came in overs 10 to 15, illustrating well in the process what happens when he stays at the wicket for a mere 89 minutes. The sixth-wicket partnership of 67 runs (36b) between Sehwag and Irfan Pathan was terminated by Dale Steyn but Delhi completed the formalities of a four-wicket win an over to spare.

The Chargers had copped a lot of flak in the run-up to the match as much for their lacklustre performance as for their choice of personnel. Thus, out went vice-captain Cameron White and Sunny Sohal. JP Duminy and Ishan Malhotra came in with local boy DB Ravi Teja moving up to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan.

Teja came a cropper but it was all action after the halfway stage. Yogesh Nagar realized the folly of bowling two no-balls in the 15th over that fetched Chargers 20 runs, both Duminy and Daniel Christian getting a reprieve -- Asad Rauf's hunch confirmed twice by the third umpire -- followed by free hits which the Chargers made capital of.

toi