Kolkata Knight Riders paceman Umesh Yadav (right) struck twice in his first over agianst Sunrisers Hyderabad during the IPL in Kolkata last night. (BCCI)
Agencies/Kolkata
Umesh Yadav and Brad Hogg claimed two wickets apiece as the Kolkata Knight Riders climbed to third on the Indian Premier League table with a convincing 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday.
India fast bowler Yadav finished with two for 34, both wickets coming in his first over, while 44-year-old Hogg took two for 17 to restrict the visitors to 132 for nine.
That in pursuit of 167 for seven after Yusuf Pathan (30 not out), Robin Uthappa (30), Gautam Gambhir (31) and Manish Pandey (33) all struck 30s when the champions lost the toss and were asked to bat first. It was a dubious decision by the visitors with KKR racing to 50 for none in 5.3 overs. They eventually lost their first wicket on 57 - Gambhir top-edging Karn Sharma (2-29) to Eoin Morgan at deep midwicket after facing 23 balls.
New man Pandey came in and continued the tempo by adding 24 for the next wicket. But that stand ended courtesy of a superb diving catch by David Warner, who threw himself low to the right in the covers to end Uthappa’s 27-ball stay, Karn again the bowler.
That was in the 11th over with the total on 81 and from there, wickets fell regularly as the Knight Riders struggled to really find any fluency. Andre Russell was dismissed for one by the miserly Bipul Sharma (1-23), while Pandey was run-out after a mix-up with Ryan ten Doeschate, Bipul swooping on the ball and throwing Naman Ojha to send the batsman on his way.
Dutchman Ten Doeschate made just eight before being trapped leg before wicket by Moises Henriques, while South Africa allrounder Johan Botha (12) was one of two batsman to fall to India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-42).
Pathan then thrashed four boundaries in his 19-ball cameo to help set 168. Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn went wicketless in his four overs at a cost of 37.
The reply was a woeful one from Hyderabad, with only Henriques (41 off 33) and Karn (32) offering some fight. They were dealt a double blow inside the first over and never recovered.
Yadav cleaned up captain Warner with the third delivery and then bowled wicketkeeper Ojha with the final ball of his first sequence. Shikhar Dhawan (15) and Henriques managed to stabalise things momentarily with a 23-run stand that took the visitors to 29.
But more trouble followed when Hogg was introduced to the attack. The veteran slow left-armer dismissed Dhawan with a clever googly that was snared by Pandey at square leg. Henriques continued to plug away, this time with Morgan (five) at the other end, as the pair added another useful 26.
But the Englishman was run-out at the non-strikers end by Gambhir from point, with the wheels coming off from there. Hanuma Vihari (six), Bipul (one) and Henriques all fell in quick succession leaving the total on 81 for seven.
Karn did entertain Eden Gardens when he pummeled 32 in 20, including three successive sixes, but by then the writing was on the wall. Botha (1-32) finally dismissed him as Sunrisers finished on 132 for nine.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 167 for 7 (Pandey 33, Gambhir 31, Karn 2-29) bt Sunrisers Hyderabad 132 for 9 (Henriques 41, Hogg 2-17, Umesh 2-34) by 35 runs.
