Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils, IPL 2016, Kolkata April 10, 2016
Russell and Hogg rout Daredevils
THE REPORT BY DEIVARAYAN MUTHU
Kolkata Knight Riders 99 for 1 (Gambhir 38*, Uthappa 35) beat Delhi Dardevils 98 (De Kock 17, Hogg 3-19, Russell 3-24) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Cullinan: Daredevils were horribly exposed
Kolkata Knight Riders did not have several players key to their success over the years for their opening game of the 2016 season. Shakib Al Hasan and Morne Morkel, central to their plans last season, were benched. Sunil Narine, who played a stellar role in their title-winning run in 2012 and 2014, was unavailable because of his father's death. Did it hamper them? It didn't look like it, as Andre Russell and Brad Hogg took three wickets apiece to skittle Delhi Daredevils for 98. Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir's 69-run opening partnership then set a strong platform for a nine-wicket win with 35 balls to spare.
Russell and John Hastings, who took Morkel's place, ran in hard and hit the deck harder to extract unusually high bounce. Quinton de Kock, who had pulled Umesh Yadav for back-to-back boundaries, was the first to go when he skewed a catch to mid-off. Four balls later, Shreyas Iyer was trapped lbw for a duck. Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair also exited in successive overs as Hastings capped the Powerplay with a wicket maiden. By then, Daredevils were in a familiar spot at 35 for 4.
Gambhir multiplied the efficiency of his attack by deploying two slips for most parts of the innings. He even placed himself at short leg after Russell dismantled the top order.
Pawan Negi, who was promoted to No.6, swished and missed balls before Hogg had him stumped for a 19-ball 11. IPL debutant Carlos Brathwaite, who had fired West Indies to their second World T20 title last week, momentarily broke free with a biff over wide long-on, but was foxed by a skiddy googly from Piyush Chawla two balls later. Sanju Samson was the eighth Daredevils batsman to be dismissed before Hastings made a reappearance to wrap up the innings.
Daredevils had slumped to their seventh sub-100 score in IPL, and the second-lowest score in the tournament's history at Eden Gardens.
The chase was a stroll for Knight Riders, and the onset of dew only made things worse for Daredevils. Zaheer Khan, playing his first competitive game since May 2015, floated flick-me balls in the lower 120kph range on to Gambhir's pads and got picked for three fours in the second over. Uthappa moved into his shot-making stride with a brace of straight-driven fours as the hosts raced past 50 in the eighth over. Although Uthappa holed out for 35 in the tenth over against the run of play, Gambhir and Manish Pandey ensured Knight Riders enjoyed a winning start.
Daredevils, who revamped their side again before the tournament and opted for lesser-known youngsters, will look to regroup quickly before they meet Kings XI Punjab in a home match on April 15.
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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