IPL 10, Match 18 Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders: 5 Tracking Points

With both teams Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders taking the field at Ferozshah Kotla with important wins behind their back, all eyes were on the first game of the doubleheader today which featured home side Delhi Daredevils and visitors Kolkata Knight Riders. The match was a cracker of a game as both sided fought till the last ball of the match. In the end, it was the Knight Riders who held their nerves gathered two important points to acquire the top position of the IPL Points Table.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first. The top order batsmen chipped in with important contributions in the match. Daredevils managed a competitive total of 168 runs, thanks to decisive knocks from Samson, Pant, and Morris.  Newcomer Nathan Coulter-Nile was the pick of the KKR bowler finishing with impressive figures of 3/20 in 4 overs. Zaheer Khan made KKR’s chase uneasy but a match-winning partnership from Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey kept their hopes alive in the match, coming in at a precarious situation.

Things were tight for both the teams with 9 needed off the last over. Pandey kept his cool to finish the game for his side by scoring 8 of the last 3 balls.

Here are the 5 Tracking Points from Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders:

1. Mohammad Shami and Angelo Matthews bolster Delhi squad after a long lay-off due to injury.

Mohammad Shami last played a competitive match against the English side in the grand home season of Test cricket for India back in November. While Angelo Matthews last played a match for his national side in South Africa back in January. Shami made his comeback in today’s match after 5 months due to a knee injury, while Matthews is making his comeback after 3 months after hurting his hamstring. The inclusion of these international stalwarts completely changed the balance of the side.Both contributed to the match decently by trying to bottle up their respective ends with the ball. Matthews disappointed with the bat as he gave his wicket away while trying to accelerate.

Both contributed to the match decently by trying to bottle up their respective ends with the ball. Matthews disappointed with the bat as he gave his wicket away while trying to accelerate. The inclusion of these international stalwarts completely changed the balance of the side.Both contributed to the match decently by trying to bottle up their respective ends. Matthews disappointed with the bat as he gave his wicket away while trying to accelerate during the death overs.

2. Karun Nair sluggish form with the bat after Triple Century

Karun Nair’s Gray Nicolls bat has remained silent for long after its exploits at Chennai Test match last year. Nair followed his triple century with a string of low scores throughout the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, into the first few games of the IPL. Prior to the start of the match, Nair averaged 8.33 at a strike rate of 75, batting in the top middle order. He failed to impress yet again in today’s match against the Knight Riders.

He scored a sluggish 27-ball 21 at a strike rate 77, creating pressure at the other end. Runs seemed to have dried up for Karun Nair after his watershed moment at Test Cricket. Karun Nair would want some runs with the bat as he plays a key role in the Delhi side along with the likes of Samson, Pant and Shreyas Iyer.

3. Rishab Pant’s onslaught against Umesh Yadav (0,6,4,6,6,4)

Rishab Pant brought back time by displaying a blend of Yuvraj Singh’s flair and Adam Gilchrist’s aggression in the 17th over of the Daredevils innings. The young lad from Roorkee showed no respect for India’s in-form spearhead bowler as he dispatched him all over the ground for 26 runs, which included three screaming sixers and two majestic boundaries.

The two sixes off his pads over square leg and mid-wicket will be the prevailing memory out of the match for years to come. Rishab Pant gave us a glimpse of what is to come in the upcoming years. Previously, he showed a lot of courage by playing massive innings at Bengaluru after the demise of his father.

4. Zaheer Khan turns back time owing to his exploits with the ball.

Zaheer Khan conceded only seven runs in his first couple overs by taking two crucial wickets of Grandhomme and Uthappa. In tandem with Pat Cummins, KKR were reduced to 21-3 before the completion of 3 overs. Even though he ended up with figures of 2-24 in a losing cause, Zaheer khan was impressive with the new ball, bringing back memories from the first decade of the 21st century.

There’s no sign of rust in the bowling of Zaheer Khan as he is living by the proverb of old is gold. Even though his team lost today, Daredevils will hope that they carry on their good form in the upcoming matches, with more unplayable spells from Zaheer.

5. Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey resurrect KKR innings

With their team tottering at 21-3 at the end of 3 over, Pandey and Pathan stitched a match-winning partnership of 110 runs off 72 balls. Manish Pandey continued his good form with the bat as he scored a match-winning 69 off 49 balls with a strike of 140.81. While Yusuf Pathan brought up his first half-century of the tournament while scoring his knock of 59 off 38 balls at a strike rate of 155.26.

The duo was a part of a counter-attacking partnership for which the celebrated bowling line up of Delhi daredevils had no answer to. The dismissal of Yusuf Pathan, Chris Woakes, and Suryakumar Yadav did not ruffle up Manish Pandey by any means. With 8 needed off 3 balls, Pandey struck one over the long-on to seal an away victory for his side.