Daredevils kick off on a high note : Match Review

It didn’t start with a bang, it didn’t start as expected. The rain Gods looked all settled to play spoilsport in this classic encounter. But ultimately, cricket won and the match, though delayed, wasn’t called off. The match was delayed till 10.30 pm and was reduced to 12 overs a side.

Sehwag won the toss for the Daredevils and sent KKR to bat. Much to the relief of the exceptionally patient Eden Gardens crowd, the match finally started. Opener Brendon McCullum started the drama with a boundary off the second ball, but he soon fell to Roelef van der Merwe with the scorecard reading 14/1. Morne Morkel cleaned up Kallis in the next over with a fine yorker that uprooted the stumps. He bowled out Manoj Tiwary in the very next ball but Yusuf Pathan prevented his hat-trick by sending one down the fine leg.

The Daredevils were electric on the field and it payed off as KKR continued to lose wickets thereafter in quick succession. Despite Debrata Das’ firing and Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s bravado, their innings folded at 97 runs. The much-talked-about batting department failed miserably and it was now up to the bowlers to do the difficult job.

In reply, the Delhi openers, confident after their brilliant show on the field, started off pretty comfortably with Aaron Finch doing the bulk of the job. In only 6 overs, they got to 48 without losing a wicket. Kallis gave some hope to the Knights by clearing up the dangerous-looking Finch before Rajat Bhatia cleared up the other opener. But Maxwell supported Irfan Pathan (promoted to No. 3) well as the duo looked to capitalize on a steady partnership.

The Delhi lads needed 28 runs off the last three overs with 8 wickets in hand. Not a tough job, but you’d have sensed that this match will go till the last ball. Gambhir threw the ball to debutante Merchant de Lange and he was struck for a six off the first ball. Pressure mounted on KKR as he conceded 17 runs in that over. Thereafter, it was easy job for Sehwag’s boys as they finished things up in the very first ball off the last over.

I had earlier predicted an easy win for the Knight Riders considering the strengths of the team concerned, but little did I know then that the rains will shift the momentum in favour of the visiting team! Credit must be given to the Delhi bowlers for doing a wonderful job and they were well complimented by the fieldsmen. In contrast, the Knights were comparatively sloppy and instead of saving runs, they gave away runs. Bowling changes could do no wonder for the side that had shown so much promise in the previous season. Certainly, it was the batting unit that didn’t click, paired with some tough luck with the weather conditions.

Morne Morkel was the pick of the bowlers returning with the figures of 3-18 and he deserved the Player of the Match award for his brilliant bowling.

However, it’s only the start of the campaign and the Knights still have 15 more matches in hand. As for the Daredevils, they will be pleased with their performance in spite of being without the top stars.