IPL 10, Match 14, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: 5 Tracking Points

The match was an ideal platform for the Sunrisers to get back on track after they failed to close down the Mumbai Indians in their previous encounter. The Knight Riders once again used the West Indian spinner Sunil Narine as their opener in the absence of the Australian Chris Lynn. However, the results did not go according to them as Bhuvaneshwar Kumar struck early to send the West Indian back to the hut.

The Indian quick followed the ball with a near-perfect dismissal of Robin Uthappa only for the umpire to wrongly give the decision as not out. The decision cost the Sunrisers dearly as the batsman went on to score a vital 68 runs in just 39 balls. The knock almost single-handedly ensured that the Knight Riders posted a total of well-above the 150 mark, after their initial struggle.

The other batsman around Uthappa struggled to time the ball from the middle of the bat, failing to put up strings of good scores at the other end. Manish Pandey’s contribution of 46 was essential when we look at the context of the game and the way it was progressing. Eventually, the Knight Riders ended up with a total of 172 runs in the 20 overs.

In reply, the Sunrisers got off to the best of starts with David Warner and Shikar Dhawan blazing the ball to parts of the park. The opening wicket of Dhawan came in from an unlikely source, Yusuf Pathan. The part-time off-spinner managed to dismiss the opener to give their side a hint at a win.

Warner gave away his wicket in the 10th over to Kuldeep Yadav to throw the game wide open. Quick wickets saw the Sunrisers crumble to a score of 96/4 at the end of the 13th over. From then it was very difficult for the Sunrisers to score in the remaining overs at a very brisk pace. The Sunrisers only managed to get 155 on board from their 20 overs, giving the win to the Knight Riders.

Here are the five tracking points of the game:

1. Umpire’s poor display

The Umpires of the game had a poor day at the office, or to say the Umpires in the Tournament have had put up a string of bad performances. Nigel Llong and Anil Dandekar were the two umpires at guilt here in Kolkata.

The umpires gave a reprieve to Robin Uthappa, which ultimately was the difference between a win and a loss for the Sunrisers. The umpires declared Robin Uthappa wrongly out in the latter part of the innings before the third umpire correctly ruled the opener not out. With performances such as this, the standards of umpiring have gone down drastically in the tournament.

2) Uthappa’s lucky vital streak

Kolkata’s top-order batsman Robin Uthappa should be thankful for the umpires after they failed to spot a thick outside edge very early in the innings. Uthappa capitalized on the umpiring error and went on to score a massive 68 runs in the context of the game. On a pitch that suited the first innings batsmen, Robin Uthappa’s knock was of gold.

The management would be hopeful that the Karnataka batsman managed to regain his form and help the side to reach from strength to strength as the tournament reaches the latter stages.

3) Yusuf Pathan’s contribution

One of the biggest talking points of this game would be Yusuf Pathan’s contribution to the game. The all-rounder from Baroda played a game of the innings late in the game to help his side go past the 170 barrier with a six and a boundary late in the innings.

The all-rounder also accounted for the opening wicket partnership of the Sunrisers, while the rest of the bowlers found it clueless against the dynamic duo of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan. With such a performance under his belt, it would only boost the all-rounder to go from strength to strength.

4) Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s specialist death bowling

Bhuvneshwar has developed himself to being a specialist bowler during the slog overs. He gave away only 13 runs in his last two overs and picked up two wickets as he bowled the 18th and 20th over of the KKR innings. Overall, he finished with figures of 3/20 in his 4 overs.

The bowler did not get much of a chance to represent the country in the recent past after his fantastic start to International cricket. The right-arm swing bowler only featured for Team India in the fourth Test against Australia at Dharamshala, a pitch which is naturally suited for the swing bowlers.

The bowler did not get much of a chance to represent the country in the recent past after his fantastic start to International cricket. The right-arm swing bowler only featured for Team India in the fourth Test against Australia at Dharamshala, a pitch which is naturally suited for the swing bowlers. His chances have been sporadic since the England series, and the bowler is knocking the doors of the selectors ahead of the crucial Champions Trophy in England. It would be very difficult or say impossible for the selectors to overlook the performances of the seamer.

5) Deepak Hooda’s form

Deepak Hooda’s struggle with the bat and the ball continues as the all-rounder from Baroda had another bad day on the field. The all-rounder has failed to capitalize on the opportunities given to him by the Sunrisers management. His performance with the bat is a shallow shadow of his fantastic year with the Rajasthan Royals.

His days are numbered at the Sunrisers, with the way the all-rounder is progressing. A break is much needed for the player from Baroda. He has to fire all cylinders if he wants to feature for Tom Moody’s side regularly in the competition.