Kolkata : A superb allround performance enabled Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) clinch their third home game on the trot with a 13-run Awin over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here on Thursday.
Chasing the Knights’ 171/7, the Daredevils could only reach 158/6 at the end of their allotted 20 overs at the Eden Gardens.
The victory propelled the hosts to the third position on the leaderboard, with 13 points from 11 games. The Daredevils now languish in the seventh position, collecting eight points from eleven outings.
Shreyas Iyer (40;35b, 3×4 2×6) Atop scored for the Daredevils, while man of the match Piyush Chawla (four for 32) was the pick of the bowlers for the home side.
Chasing the Knights’ total, the visitors got off to a steady start, with openers Manoj Tiwary and Iyer ensuring there were no early jolts, even though the bowlers kept them on a leash.
Just when the partnership seemed threatening for the home side, Chawla got rid of Tiwary( 25). Iyer soon followed his partner into the dugout chopping a Brad Hoog drifter on to his stumps, with the team total reading 71/2 in 10.6 overs.
Kedar Jadav and skipper JP Duminy steadied the innings lofting a few into the stands, but an otherwise expensive Chawla turned the game on his head as he pocketed both Jadav (10) and Yuvraj Singh (0) in the 14thAover.
Daredevils’ went past the 100 run mark in the 15th over but then lost their well set skipper Duminy (25;16b, 2×4 1×6) as he heaved another Chawla delivery straight down the throat of Umesh Yadav in the deep.
The 17th over from Hogg proved expensive as the willowers belted him for 17. However the next one from Umesh was bang on target yielding just seven. Russell followed it up with another stupendous over giving away only six runs and cleaning Angelo Mathews (22).
Earlier in the day, the Knights rode on late cameos from all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and South African spinner Johan Botha (17; 5b, 4×4).
Playing as many as four front line spinners including spin ace Sunil Narine, Knights skipper Gautam Gambhir chose to bat first after winning the toss.
Pathan (42;24b 3×4 3×6) hit some lusty blows to top score for his side. Opener Robin Uthappa (32; 31b 4×4 1×6) also played a useful innings.
For the visitors, spinner Imran Tahir returned figures of 2 for 46.
The teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Robin Uthappa (wk), Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Johan Botha, Brad Hogg, Umesh Yadav.
Delhi Daredevils: Jean-Paul Duminy (captain), Kedar Jadhav (wk) Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Yuvraj Singh, Angelo Mathews, , Saurabh Tiwary, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Imran Tahir, Albie Morkel.