PWI 102-8 after 20 overs
PWI had no chance really. The ball was turning square by the end and KKR won easily by 34 runs. PWI got their team selection wrong and didn’t play Rahul Sharma or Murali Kartik and paid the price. Top-scorer for PWI was Ryder who got 22. Anyway, time to watch the football now.
PWI 95-7 after 17.5 overs
Harpreet Singh c & b Narine 6 (6b)
PWI 95-7. Narine gets his 22nd wicket of IPL 5. Simple caught and bowled.
PWI 92-6 after 17 overs
CJ Ferguson c Kallis b Bhatia 12 (18b)
Gone! Another wicket. Ferguson falls. PWI 92-6 and fading fast. Pune pretty much need a miracle now. Narine still has two overs left.
PWI 86-5 after 15.5 overs
AP Majumdar st †McCullum b Shakib Al Hasan 17 (22b)
Another wicket. Too much turn, stumped. Majumdar had no idea about the ball. It was short, gripped on the dry surface and turned a mile. Difficult conditions for the batsmen.
PWI 62-4 after 10.4 overs
SC Ganguly lbw b Shakib Al Hasan 5 (8b)
Dada falls. LBW. Is that the end of Dada’s IPL innings? Ganguly pushed forward and the ball turned enough to convince the umpire that it would hit the off-stump.
PWI 56-3 after 9.2 overs
JD Ryder b Pathan 22 (24b)
Ryder just played a very strange shot, missed the ball completely and got bowled! Big wicket for KKR. Ryder was looking set and in good touch.
PWI 51-2 after 7.4 overs
MJ Clarke st †McCullum b Pathan 13 (18b)
Clarke stumped by McCullum. PWI 52-2. Pathan’s second wicket of IPL 5. Wide called too and McCullum almost spilled the ball before the stumping.
PWI 40-1 after 6 overs
Ryder 19, Clarke 8
PWI know they don’t have to do anything silly. That’s a big advantage in T20. If they can play out Narine, they should be able to handle the rest without much ado.
PWI 11-1 after 2.2 overs
RV Uthappa c Tiwary b Iqbal Abdulla 8 (8b, 1×4)
Flighted and gone. That was so simple that it makes you wonder where the big-hitting Uthappa we once knew has gone? Anyway, the way PWI handle the spinners is the key to this game.
KKR 136-4 after 20 overs
Tiwary 8, Pathan 15
McCullum-Shakib put on 67 from 45 balls and the other batsmen didn’t really do much. But the pitch has been difficult to bat on — certainly not in the way everyone expected it to play. But KKR have three spinners and they should be able to take advantage of the slow pitch.
KKR 117-4 after 17.5 overs
Shakib Al Hasan b Kumar 42 (30b, 3×4, 2×6)
Bowled. Super yorker. Shakib falls for 42 off 30 balls. A vital knock and given the circumstances it might be the difference between victory and defeat.
KKR 107-3 after 16.1 overs
BB McCullum c Ryder b Parnell 41 (43b, 5×4)
Not his best innings but he stayed there and has at least helped give KKR a decent platform. Now, if they get a few big shots and overs going, they will have a good chance. But at least 150 needed.
KKR 101-2 after 15 overs
McCullum 39, Shakib 34
Shakib’s done exactly what KKR needed. The first 50 of the KKR innings came in 69 deliveries and the second fifty has come in just 19 deliveries — all thanks to Shakib. He smashed Clarke for 20 in one over and was even dropped — much to PWI’s misfortune.
KKR 60-2 after 12 overs
McCullum 31, Shakib 5
Two fours from McCullum to end the 12th over. KKR need more of that, a lot more of that. They still have wickets in hand and expect them to throw their bats at everything now.
KKR 40-2 after 8.4 overs
J Kallis b Clarke 13 (18b, 1×4)
Clarke gets Kallis. KKR 40-2. Ball skidded through to hit the middle stump. Gambhir can’t be happy with whats happening in the middle.
KKR 38-1 after 8 overs
McCullum 15, Kallis 12
KKR are being kept in check by Pune by some very good stump-to-stump bowling. It certainly doesn’t look like the good batting pitch it was supposed to be.
KKR 21-1 after 4.3 overs
G Gambhir c Nehra b Parnell 10 (12b, 1×4)
Gambhir gone. Hit it straight to the fielder at mid-on. Nehra managed to hang on to it.
KKR 21-0 after 4 overs
McCullum 11, Gambhir 10
KKR keeping it slow and steady. Maybe too slow. They have been trying to hit but haven’t been able to find the gaps. PWI have bowled well.
KKR 13-0 after 2 overs
McCullum 9, Gambhir 4
McCullum slowly seems to be finding his touch and once he does that he can be as devastating as any batsman in the league. Gambhir, too, has looked solid and that is what adds true strength to the KKR batting order. More often than not, they have been getting good starts. In T20, that’s half the battle won.
Pre-game
Gautam Gambhir won the toss for Kolkata Knight Riders and elected to bat first on a wicket that looks a little dry and good for batting. He also said that he doesn’t believe in momentum, so his team is going to treat this as a new day and give it their best shot.
On the other hand, Sourav Ganguly may be playing his last IPL match. Pune Warriors are playing the last match of what can now be described as a disastrous campaign. Steven Smith, Pune’s best player of the season, is injured and will miss out. Angelo Mathews is also unfit. Michael Clarke is back after his wedding and there are a lot of changes in the team.
Sourav Ganguly may be playing his last IPL match. AP
It is an important match for KKR because they will want to win and make sure they have seal second place. KKR are playing three spinners once again.
Squads (from):
Pune Warriors
SC Ganguly*, JD Ryder, MJ Clarke, RV Uthappa†, AP Majumdar, CJ Ferguson, Harpreet Singh, WD Parnell, B Kumar, AG Murtaza, A Nehra.
Kolkata Knight Riders
G Gambhir*, BB McCullum†, JH Kallis, MK Tiwary, Shakib Al Hasan, YK Pathan, DB Das, R Bhatia, Iqbal Abdulla, SP Narine, L Balaji.
