IPL 2016, KKR vs GL: A PK-DK show at Eden Gardens

Gujarat’s sultans of swing rattle Kolkata Knight Riders. But Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan put on an unbroken 134-run partnership for the fifth wicket to ensure recovery. Gujarat Lions, however, comfortably chased down a victory target of 159.

Praveen Kumar always gives you an impression that swing bowling is a cerebral art. And when he finds the conditions to his liking, he becomes tough to negotiate. The Eden Gardens pitch for this game had a tinge of green and the heaviness in the air helped the new ball move both ways after Suresh Raina won the toss for Gujarat and decided to field first. Kumar’s second ball came in sharply from outside off and Robin Uthappa managed a thick inside edge towards mid-on. Gautam Gambhir, too, had a narrow escape. Kumar’s outswinger (left-hander’s inswing) went through the gate but missed the stumps. Early signs were encouraging for the Gujarat seamers. Dhawal Kulkarni found some away movement as well in his first over, beating Uthappa twice. But he compromised with his length in over-excitement to concede a couple of fours. That didn’t prove too costly, for Kumar soon removed Gambhir.

The Kolkata captain was a tad unlucky as the ball deflected off his thigh pad to hit the leg stump. Two deliveries hence, Manish Pandey was done in by a peach of an outswinger. Kulkarni accounted for Uthappa soon after – another outswinger that bounced a little more and the hosts were down to 21/3 after four overs. Dwayne Smith made it 24/4 as Suryakumar Yadav fell prey to a blinder from Raina at slip. The batsman tried a cheeky ramp, but the ball got big on him and took his glove. It was flying over the slip, when Raina made the leap and plucked the ball out of thin air with his right hand. The best catch of the IPL 9 yet! Kumar finished with 2/19 in four overs to take the Man of the Match award(SPORTS EXPRESS,2016).