Even mishits were fetching six runs for Andre Russel. (Express photo by Partha Paul)Late flourishes were the theme of IPL 2019’s first doubleheader. In the first match of the day, Kolkata Knight Riders were propelled to a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad thanks to a stunning onslaught from Andre Russell from the 18th over onwards that helped them score the required 53 runs off the last 18 balls. Later in the day, Delhi Capitals, batting first, were helped to a total of 213/6 due to a ridiculously brutal 27-ball 78 by Rishabh Pant. Mumbai Indians ended up being all out for 176.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad:
The Eden Gardens crowd was in for a roller coaster on Sunday. SRH batted first and comeback king David Warner hardly looked like a man who has not played top-level cricket for the better part of the year. In that way, it was a particularly good day for fans of the Australian cricket team with their win over Pakistan later in the day being powered by a century from Aaron Finch. Warner systematically dissected everything Dinesh Karthik and KKR threw at him and looked set for a fourth IPL ton. However, he was dismissed in 16th over after which, KKR pulled it back. Vijay Shankar went big guns in the final over and helped SRH reach 182.
Rarely did KKR look capable of chasing down the target during their innings. They looked at par during an 80-run stand between Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana. Uthappa was eventually dismissed and Dinesh Karthik followed suit. Rana was eventually dismissed on 68 and it left with Andre Russell and Shubman Gill to get them home. Siddharth Kaul and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were bowling but it did not matter as Russell took SRH for a ride. Such was the power with which he hit his shots that even mishits were going for six. The 18th over bowled by Kaul went for 19 runs. After that, Bhuvneshwar, who was captain in the absence of Kane Williamson, was clubbed for 21 runs by Russell and then Gill himself got on the act, hitting two sixes off Shakib Al Hasan and finishing the match.
Was a close game but credit to Andre Russell and Nitish Rana for taking the game away from us with their brilliant batting. Was wonderful to see David Warner , Bairstow and Vijay Shankar bat the way they did. I am sure we will come back stronger #KKRvSRH
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) 24 March 2019
Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals:
Rishabh Pant struggled in the first over he faced before he unleashed himself. (Image Source: IPL website)The newly rechristened Delhi Capitals were given exactly the kind of fresh start they needed by Shubman Gill. Mumbai had won the toss and chosen to field first. Delhi lost Prithvi Shaw and captain Shreyas Iyer early but Shikhar Dhawan and Colin Ingram’s 80-run stand resurrected the innings. Ingram was eventually dismissed on 47 by Ben Cutting following. Shikhar Dhawan did not last long and was back in the hut after making 43 and Keem Paul was dismissed for 3. It meant Delhi were 5-157 in the 17th over with an unproven lower middle order exposed.
But then Rishabh Pant unleashed himself on the bowlers. Off the 27 balls that he faced, Pant smashed seven fours and as many sixes and ended the innings on 78. Even Jasprit Bumrah was not spared and the innings ended with some concern for fans of the Indian team with Bumrah sustaining an injury to his shoulder in an attempt to field off his own bowling.
Mumbai Indians rarely looked like they were in the chase. Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma were dismissed by Ishant Sharma before they could do any significant damage. Yuvraj Singh anchored two major partnerships with Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya during which Mumbai were giving a fight. Yuvraj eventually scored his 13th IPL fifty but the deficit was too steep for Mumbai in the end. They fell short by 37 runs.
