Kolkata breeze past dire Daredevils

Cricket365
May 7, 2014

The Kolkata Knight Riders moved into the top half of the IPL table on Wednesday when they romped past the Delhi Daredevils, winning by a whopping eight wickets thanks to an impressive half ton from Gautam Gambhir.

Delhi put on 160 for five, with JP Duminy's 40 not out the reason for the decent score as the top order failed to fire. But Kolkata had no issues with the target, reaching it with 10 balls to spare.

Delhi skipper Kevin Pietersen, under massive pressure, won the toss and chose to bat first. They were soon a man down when Quinton de Kock fell for just 10, and then Pietersen himself was out for six, attempting a suicidal run.

This left the side two down for just 26, leaving Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik to try and steady the knock. They put on 35 runs in the next three overs, with Karthik pulling out all manner of shots.

Their stand was broken when Vijay departed for 24, and then Karthik was out for 36 three overs later. This left Duminy to keep the tail end in control, and he struck three big sixes in his 28 balls, including off the last ball.

The chase was smooth sailing from the get-go, as Gambhir and Robin Uthappa put on a century stand against Delhi's below par bowling attack. This was the fourth time they lost by at least seven wickets, seemingly unable to defend a target.

Uthappa was eventually out for 47, trapped LBW by Wayne Parnell, so Gambhir took his side close with Manish Pandey at the other end. Once Gambhir was out for 69, caught behind off Parnell, Pandey and Jacques Kallis closed the game out.