Gambhir show sours Warner's night

The Match in a Tweet: Gambhir’s 90 led Kolkata Knight Riders to a dominant win, after Yadav-Morkel shared five wickets to deny Sunrisers Hyderabad even a sniff

The Aussie Pack: David Warner couldn’t replicate his form against Royal Challengers Bangalore after winning the toss and electing to bat, falling for 13 off 12. Moises Henriques was elevated to number three but he too failed to get going, out for 6 off 9, rounding up a disappointing start for the Sunrisers.

The Opening Spell: Kolkata Knight Riders are known to have a strong bench, and this match was just another proof of it. Both Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav had missed their last game against Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens, as the hosts had opted for a horses-for-courses policy. Seeing a two-paced wicket in Hyderabad then, they brought in their two quickest bowlers and got this strategic move bang on.

In their opening spell of five overs, Yadav and Morkel were near unplayable as Hyderabad were reduced to 3-36 at the end of the powerplays. Shikhar Dhawan was beaten by the South African’s bounce yet again, caught behind for 6 off 7, while the Indian used his change of pace to dismiss both Warner and Henriques. They returned later in the innings to restrict the scoring, finishing with figures of 2-35 and 3-28 respectively, but even Eoin Morgan’s rearguard half-century couldn’t save Hyderabad the blushes.

The fightback: Morgan was slated to come it at number four in their previous game, but was held back. Given their poor start here, he had to be elevated this time around and the English skipper made good on his promise. After a poor run in the 2016 World T20, he used his time in the middle to good effect, getting off to a sedate start and allowing Hyderabad’s score to gain some respectability.

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Andre Russell had removed Deepak Hooda at the other end, but Naman Ojha stuck around long enough to support Morgan. The pair added a vital 67 off 47 as the 100 came up for the Sunrisers in the 16th over, recovering from 4-50 at one stage.

Morgan used his feet well against the spinners, taking 27 off 22 against Shakib al Hasan and Sunil Narine, and reached 50 off 41 balls. Ojha meanwhile contributed 37 off 28 to this partnership, and it took a moment of brilliance to separate the duo.

The catch: In an otherwise drab and one-sided affair, there were a couple moments of sheer magic in the field. In the 18th over of the Sunrisers' innings, Ojha decided to go after the bowling and lofted one off Morkel straight down the ground and towards the boundary. West Indies star Andre Russell rushed back from his fielding position, juggled the ball twice and then directed it to teammate Piyush Chawla for a spectacular catch inside the rope. Ojha was gone, caught by Chawla off Morkel, but the scorecard won't say how Russell made that dismissal possible. 

The Gambhir Show: The Knight Riders’ skipper then played a chanceless knock to take his side to victory with ease, as their opponents were denied any early breakthroughs. Gambhir and Robin Uthappa put on 92 off 75 for the opening wicket and destroyed any hopes that Sunrisers Hyderabad had of making the game interesting.

Gambhir was sedate at the start, letting his partner do the donkeywork. Uthappa for his part didn’t back down and scored 38 off 34, inclusive of three fours and a six, as the 50 came up in just 7.5 overs. The two batsmen were in no rush, running hard between the wickets and accumulating runs more than forcing them off the opposition, as is the wont in this slam-bang format.

But the left-hander changed gears when the slow bowlers were deployed after the powerplays. He smacked leggie Karn Sharma for three fours in the 11th over, and then took another 10 off military-medium Ashish Reddy immediately after. In doing so he brought up his 50 off 41 balls. The latter got back by trapping Uthappa LBW, but it wasn’t enough.

As Gambhir grew in confidence, he was harsh on India’s newfound left-arm seamer Barinder Sran, hitting him for successive fours in the 16th, and later tanked Mustafizur Rehman for a straight six down the ground. The Bangladesh pacer bounced back by bowling Andre Russell with a peach of a yorker. But Kolkata’s captain was steady, finishing with an unbeaten 90 off 60, as his side chased victory in 10 deliveries to spare.

The Stat: With his 28th IPL half-century, Gambhir crossed the 5000 mark in T20 cricket. He also gained control of the Orange Cap with his tally of 192 runs in three matches thus far. Aaron Finch will have the chance to win it back in Saturday’s later match against Mumbai Indians.

The Wash-Up: Sunrisers Hyderabad are struggling without their prime-time batsmen, Yuvraj Singh and Kane Williamson, both out with injuries. To make matters worse, Ashish Nehra was sidelined in their first game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, and given how Kolkata’s pacers bowled, they missed him the most. Going forward, they will be praying for good news on the injury front.

Kolkata meanwhile will be happy with their second win, which underlines their bench strength and squad balance. In each of the three games, they have picked players as per the conditions and have looked good. Their team balance bodes well for the long season ahead.

The Next Stop: Sunrisers Hyderabad will stay put and host the Mumbai Indians on Monday. The Knight Riders, meanwhile, will continue their away leg and travel to Mohali to take on Kings XI Punjab, reeling under two consecutive losses, on Tuesday.