IPL Kolkata Knight Riders
IPL 2013: Reasons for KKR’s debacle
Category: Cricket News,IPL,IPL 2013 News,IPL Kolkata Knight RidersBangalore, May 21: “Cricket is a man’s game and not played by the boys. It’s played the hard way and with the hard ball and these things happen in the heat of the moment,” Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir said after an ugly on-field spat with Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli. But unfortunately for Gambhir and his team, “the hard way” did not take them to the playoffs in IPL 2013.
From defending champions to 7th this year, KKR’s downward journey was not the best gift for their loyal fans. Gambhir might have emphasises on playing “the hard way” but that is not the only route to the top. If that was the case, KKR should have been in the playoffs.
In IPL 6, captain Gambhir will be best remembered for his spat with Kohli and also his shocking sledging of Rahul Dravid. Other than these two ugly incidents, people will not talk much about Gambhir and KKR.
Based on last year’s title win, Kolkata got the right to host the final in 2013. But the Eden Gardens will have to find another team to cheer in the final on May 26.
3 reasons for KKR’s failure to seal playoff spot
Misfiring Yusuf Pathan
Yusuf Pathan has the ability to smash the cricket ball long and destroy attacks. But his talent did not translate into runs in IPL 6. He found his touch towards the end but it was too late. And added to that, he became the first batsman in IPL history to be given out for obstructing the field – kicking the ball deliberately!
We surprised few people by qualifying: Moody
Category: Cricket News,IPL,IPL 2013 News,IPL Kolkata Knight Riders,IPL Match Results,IPL Sunrisers HyderabadHyderabad, May 20: Sunrisers Hyderabad chief coach Tom Moody has said reaching play-offs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was rewarding and satisfying for the team.
“Lot of people at the beginning of the tournament gave us no hope whatsoever. So it is very rewarding and satisfying that we managed to work well as a team and jell well as a team and surprised few people,” the Australian said after Sunrisers beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets here Sunday night to storm into play-offs.
Moody believes the challenge ahead for the team was exciting. “This is only one step. We had set the goal to qualify. We have reached that and achieved that. Now we need to gather ourselves and plan and prepare appropriately. We got a few days to do that,” he said.
Sunrisers, who finished fourth on the table with 20 points, will clash with third placed Rajasthan Royals in the eliminator to be played in Delhi, May 22.
“I don’t think play-offs will bring more pressure than today’s. Today was final for us. If we hadn`t win today we would not have been going to Delhi. Our next game is no different from any other game we played this tournament. As far as I am concerned every game is important to us. Play-offs in Delhi is no different from that. So our whole process and preparation will be no different,” said Moody.
Sunrisers win to reach playoffs, RCB eliminated
Category: Cricket News,IPL,IPL Kolkata Knight Riders,IPL Match Results,IPL Sunrisers HyderabadHyderabad, May 19: Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets to storm into the play-offs of the sixth Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium Sunday night.
The home side achieved the 131 target with the loss of five wickets with seven balls to spare, but not before some anxious moments.
Requiring 15 off last two overs, Darren Sammy hit Abdullah for two consecutive sixes to seal the match, much to the delight of the over 32,000 crowd.
Sunrisers’ openers had scored 89 in 12th over and were looking set for a comprehensive win when loss of five wickets with the addition of just 22 runs in six overs made things suddenly difficult for them. Sammy’s hits, however, provided relief.
Earlier, Sunrisers made a brisk start with openers Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan. Patel struck two consecutive boundaries in the second over bowled by Pradeep Sangwan, who was playing only the second match of this season.
The wicket-keeper batsman then welcomed Sunil Narine with a boundary and hit two boundaries in a row to Yousuf Pathan in the next over.
Till then all six boundaries came from Patel’s willow. An aggressive Dhawan also began to open up, hitting Pathan over the fence. That over from Pathan, sixth of the inning, went for 15 runs.
The openers laid a solid foundation by scoring 45 in the first six overs.
Dhawan jumped high and hit a bouncer from Kallis over covers for a delightful six. The southpaw sent the next delivery for a boundary through extra-cover. There was no stopping this 27-year-old as he blasted two more boundaries in the next over bowled by Shami Ahmed.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – Match 60 Preview – IPL 2013 IPL6
Category: IPL,IPL Kolkata Knight Riders,IPL Royal Challengers BangaloreRanchi, May 11: Inching closer to a playoff berth, Royal Challengers Bangalore will face an inconsistent Kolkata Knight Riders, who would be eyeing revenge, when the two sides clash in the city’s first IPL game at the Jharkhand Cricket Association’s International stadium on Sunday (May 12).
It is exactly a month since the two teams clashed in Bangalore where Chris Gayle blew away KKR with a 50-ball 85 that was laced with nine sixes.
Riding on Gayle’s brilliance and some other notable performers, RCB are among the top-four in the points table while KKR are languishing in the bottom half.
Both teams will go into the match high on confidence winning their last games. While KKR comprehensively beat a hapless Pune Warriors, RCB pulled off a thriller against the Delhi Daredevils on Friday.
For RCB, Gayle`s rather quiet outings in the past few matches would be a concern. But that has more or less been compensated by the likes of skipper Virat Kohli, who was quite impressive during his 58-ball 99 in the previous match.
Also finding his feet is the fit-again Cheteshwar Pujara, who would be expected to play the sheet-anchor role given that he is not exactly a big-hitter.
In fact, batting is hardly a concern for RCB with pinch-hitters like Moises Henriques and A B de Villiers making up the lower half of their line-up.
Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Match 53 Highlights – IPL 2013 IPL 6
Category: IPL,IPL Highlights,IPL Kolkata Knight Riders,IPL Match Results,IPL Mumbai IndiansMumbai, May 7: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders are in danger of missing out on playoffs in IPL 2013. Mumbai Indians handed KKR their 8th defeat, at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday night. The 65-run easy win tonight brightened MI’s chances of finishing in the top four. It was 6th successive win for MI at home.
KKR failed to chase 171 as they were bowled out for 105 in 18.2 overs. Harbhajan Singh took 3 wickets while Mitchell Johnson and Pragyan Ojha had two apiece. Lasith Malinga had one success in this huge victory.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Smith and Dinesh Karthik lifted Mumbai Indians to 170/6 in 20 overs. Tendulkar made 48 while Smith contributed 47. Both had a 93-run partnership for the first wicket. Towards the end, Karthik hit a 18-ball 34 not out to take MI to a good score.
Here are the highlights
# Today’s was 8th win in 12 games for MI. They are 2nd with 16 points
# KKR have lost 8 games out of 12 and remain at 7th in the Points Table
# Gautam Gambhir was out for a 2-ball duck in the first over. He was bowled by Mitchell Johnson
# KKR were 38/1 in 6 overs. 50 came off 45 balls. 100 in 101
# Harbhajan Singh took 3/27 in 4 overs
Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Match 53 Preview – IPL 2013 IPL 6
Category: IPL,IPL Kolkata Knight Riders,IPL Mumbai IndiansMumbai, May 6: Upbeat after their comprehensive 60-run victory over table-toppers Chennai Super Kings, a confident Mumbai Indians will be eager to further brighten their play-off prospects with yet another win, over holders Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL game here on Tuesday (May 7).
Mumbai’s fifth victory in as many games at the Wankhede Stadium, which has proved to be an insurmountable hurdle for visiting teams this season, boosted their points tally to 14 ahead of their 12th round match against the Knight Riders who are languishing in the bottom half of the table with 8 points from 11 matches.
It’s going to be a daunting task for Kolkata and the clinical dissection of Rajasthan Royals in their previous home game is just the shot in the arm the Gautam Gambhir-led side needed ahead of this huge challenge.
The visitors’ hope of making it to the knock-out phase is hanging by a thread and the head to head record against Mumbai – 2 wins against 9 losses – is also not inspiring.
But the defending champions can take heart from the fact that when the two teams met here last year, it was Kolkata who emerged victorious.
Post-match there was a ruckus between KKR’s joint owner Shah Rukh Khan and the Mumbai Cricket Association officials that led to the association imposing a five-year ban on the Bollywood actor from entering the ground.
MCA officials have been insisting the ban stands and he cannot come and egg on his team at the stadium tomorrow.
The Knight Riders’ top-order batting has waxed and waned in IPL-6. None signifies this aspect better than captain Gambhir who started off with three half centuries in their first four games and has since struggled to get going.