The Hindu : Sport : Shoaib Akhtar bowls Knight Riders to victory

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Shoaib Akhtar bowls Knight Riders to victory

S. Sabanayakan

Shukla chips in with three wickets as Daredevils fails to chase a modest target

— Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

THE HERO: Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled a brilliant opening spell, is mobbed by teammates after taking a wicket.

KOLKATA: Shoaib Akhtar produced a magical three-over opening spell to demolish the Delhi Daredevils top-order, as Kolkata Knight Riders scripted a sensational 23-run win in the DLF-Indian Premier League encounter at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.

For Akhtar, who had to miss two matches on fitness grounds and was doubtful even for this tie, it was a memorable IPL debut. He began in spectacular fashion, sending back Delhi Daredevil skipper Virender Sehwag in the second ball of the opening over.

He removed Gautam Gambhir in his next over and dismissed A.B. de Villiers and Manoj Tiwary off successive balls in his third over to be on a hat-trick. Tillekeratne Dilshan, however, denied Akhtar a hat-trick.

Daredevils fought back through some dogged batting by Dilshan and Amit Mishra. The two added 24 for the sixth wicket to put Daredevils back on track. Just when it looked like Daredevils was in with a chance came the dramatic run out of Dilshan (25, 19b, 5x4). Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s throw sent the Sri Lankan back.

On target

Farveez Maharoof, who walked in next, and Mishra played sensibly to keep the scoreboard ticking and put pressure on Knight Riders.

It was another superb throw, this time by bowler Ashok Dinda, that brought to an end to Maharoof’s innings. Shukla polished off the tail with a haul of three of six in five balls. He was also on a hat-trick but Yomahesh denied him the feat.

An elated Ganguly said it was one of the fantastic victories in his career. “It was not easy to come back and win the match after setting such a small target on this pitch,” he said.

Earlier, Knight Riders posted a fighting total against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Electing to bat, the home side, buoyed by a steady 48 (44b, 7x4) from opener Salman Butt and his 40-run association for the third wicket with David Hussey, reached 133 for six in 20 overs.

The openers — Butt and Aakash Chopra — began cautiously against Glenn McGrath and Pradeep Sangwan to take the scoere to 35 before Chopra went for 13.

In walked skipper Sourav Ganguly and he greeted young Yomahesh with a six off a free hit before becoming his first victim for seven. A wild swing without getting into the line meant Ganguly’s wicket got rattled.

Fruitful partnership

At two down for 47, the team needed a fruitful partnership when Butt and Hussey put on 40 runs in 6.2 overs.

Under pressure to get runs, the lower-order failed, except Shukla who hit 10 off eight balls.

Hussey was the second highest scorer with 31 off 31 balls with two sixes.

Meanwhile, Knight Riders decided to release five of their fringe players — Ranadeb Bose, Sourasish Lahiri, Rohan Banerjee, Yashpal Singh and C. Pujara — to bring down the size of its contingent to 18 from 23.

The scores: Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Butt c McGrath b Yomahesh 48, A. Chopra c Maharoof b Sangwan 13, S. Ganguly b Yomahesh 7, D. Hussey c Tewari b Maharoof 31, T. Taibu (run out) 7, L.R. Shukla c Gambhir b Maharoof 10, W. Saha (not out) 5, I. Abdullah (not out) 1, Extras (lb-3, w-7, nb-1): 11, Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 133.

Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-47, 3-87, 4-99, 5-119, 6-129.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: McGrath 4-0-22-0, Sangwan 4-0-29-1, Yomahesh 4-0-34-2, Maharoof 4-0-25-2, Mishra 3-0-13-0, Sehwag 1-0-7-0.

Delhi Daredevils: G. Gambhir c Hussey b Akhtar 10, V. Sehwag c Saha b Akhtar 0, A.B. de Villiers c Taibu b Akhtar 7, M. Tiwary lbw b Akhtar 9, S. Dhawan b Dinda 7, T. Dilshan (run out) 25, A. Mishra c Ishant b Shukla 31, F. Maharoof (run out) 10, V. Yomahesh b Shukla 3, P. Sangwan c Hussey b Shukla 0, G. McGrath (not out) 0; Extras (lb-1, w-7): 8; Total (in 17.5 overs): 110.

Fall of wickets:

1-2, 2-17, 3-28, 4-28, 5-43, 6-67, 7-101, 8-105, 9-105.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Akhtar 3-0-11-4, Ishant 3-0-18-0, Dinda 4-0-29-1, Ganguly 4-0-23-0, Abdullah 3-0-22-0, Shukla 0.5-0-6-3.

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