Little to choose between KKR, DD

Delhi (bt SRH)

What went right: The captain JP Duminy came to the party. Not only did he hit a 41-ball 54 to help the team reach 167 but also grabbed a four-wicket haul, that included the scalps of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan, to lead Delhi to victory. When a captain is performing, the team is mostly inspired. Mayank Agarwal proved it in the final over when he made a spectacular stop near the boundary to parry off a ball back into play to stop a six, an act that helped Delhi win it in the end.

What went wrong: There wasn’t much to crib about but Delhi would probably have hoped for a better finish with the bat. They had reached 132 in the 16th over and had just lost three wickets but couldn’t make the end overs count, going at little over run-a-ball. And it could have proved costly in the end if not for that acrobatic save from Agarwal in the final over of the chase.

Kolkata (bt KXIP)

What went right: The sense of purpose in Andre Russell and the unfamiliar calmness in Yusuf Pathan were the two takeaways for Kolkata. When Russell walked out to the middle, Kolkata Knight Riders had lost three wickets in seven balls and had slumped from 60 for 2 to 60 for 5. Russell went after Mitchell Johnson and Co. to drag KKR towards the 156-run target with a fiery 66 that came off just 36 balls. While Russell’s aggressiveness was impressive, Yusuf Pathan’s sensible approach too would have gladdened the captain. He held back his aggressive urges and played a perfect second fiddle to Russell in a 24-ball 28 run knock.

What went wrong: For someone who starred in the 2014 tournament, Robin Uthappa is yet to click this season. Only 57 runs have come from three games and Kolkata hasn’t managed to get away to a decent start yet. He has the worst average (19) among the specialist batsmen and has also found himself in a mini-controversy over an incident with Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Sarfraz Khan. Time he lets his bat do all the talking.

Conclusion

It’s difficult to pick a clear winner. Delhi managed to win two of their last games with Yuvraj Singh and JP Duminy as star leads and considering Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer have also hit fifties, the batting is looking good. Their two leggies Imran Tahir and Amit Mishra have tested the batsmen in the middle overs. Kolkata too have their captain Gautam Gambhir in form and will be thrilled that their all-rounders Russell and Pathan are clicking. Kolkata’s lead spinner Sunil Narine too had a good outing in the last match after none-too-impressive couple of games and Suryakumar Yadav has pitched in with little cameos. Hopefully, we shall have a good tight game.

Source:: Indian Express