New Delhi: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets in the first match of the Indian Premier League 2015 played at the Eden Gardens.
Vinay to bowl his final over. Suryakumar drove the third ball through covers for the winning runs! It has been a great knock from Suryakumar and KKR have started off their campaign in great style!
Vinay to bowl his final over. Suryakumar drove the third ball through covers for the winning runs! It has been a great knock from Suryakumar and KKR have started off their campaign in great style!
Over 18 | Score 165/3
Malinga to bowl his final over. Yusuf played the second ball past long leg for a boundary. Malinga bowled another length ball to Suryakumar who smashed it over deep midwicket for another Six! 14 from the over. Just 4 needed from 12 now.
Over 17 | Score 151/3
Bumrah to bowl his third over. He bowled a half-volley to Suryakumar who smashed it over long-off for a Six! Bumrah bowled a full-toss to Suryakumar who on that occasion launched it over wide of long-on for another Six! Yusuf Pathan couldn't wait to join the party and he pulled the last ball over deep midwicket for another Six! 20 from the over, KKR now need just 18 off 18.
Over 16 | Score 131/3
Malinga has been brought back into the attack. Just two from the over. 38 needed from 24 now.
Over 15 | Score 129/3
Bumrah has been brought back into the attack. For some reasons, the long-on was vacant and Gambhri smashed the first ball straight in that zone for a boundary. Bumrah followed it with a short ball and Gambhir pulled it straight into the hands of Ambati Rayudu at deep midwicket. Yusuf Pathan is the new man in. Bumrah bowled one to Suryakumar down the leg side and he flicked it over deep fine leg for a Six! 12 from the over.
G Gambhir c Rayudu b Bumrah 57 (43b)
Over 14 | Score 117/2
Bhajji to bowl his final over. Gambhir hit the second ball straight to Bhajji, he gets some part of his hands to it, but the ball deflects and goes all the way to the straight boundary, which also brings Gambhir's century off 39 balls. He started his campaign last year on a very low note and this should give him a lot of confidence. Ten from the over.
Over 13 | Score 107/2
Vinay Kumar has been brought into the attack. Suryakumar doesn't take much time, and slaps the second ball over sqaure leg for a Six. Nine from the over.
Over 12 | Score 98/2
Bhajji to bowl his third over. Manish charged down the wicket off the last ball, hit it towards long-on where Kieron Pollard took an easy catch. Gautam and Manish have added 85 runs for the second-wicket partnership. Suryakumar Yadav is the new man in. Bhajji has given MI the much-needed breakthrough.
MK Pandey c Pollard b Harbhajan Singh 40 (24b)
Over 11 | Score 94/1
Malinga has been brought back into the attack. He bowled a high full-toss to Manish who clobbered it over deep fine leg for a Six! Nine from the over. KKR are cruising here. Rohit needs a special effort from his bowlers.
Over 10 | Score 85/1
Bhajji to continue. Manish hit the first ball straight to Corey at long-off who misjudged it because of the flash lights and dropped it at the last moment. Gambhir charged down the wicket off the fifth ball and hit it towards wide of long-off for a boundary! Bhajji bowled short again, Gambhir worked it through covers for another boundary. 11 from the over. Pathetic bowling from Mumbai at the moment and the fielders haven't supported them at all.
Over 9 | Score 74/1
Ojha to continue. He bowled a short ball to Manish who hammered it over square leg for a Six! 12 from the over. 12 from the over.
Over 8 | Score 62/1
Harbhajan Singh has been brought into the attack. Gambhir charged down the wicket and smashed it towards wide of long-off for a boundary. Gambhir was offered width off the fifth ball and Gambhir played a cut shot past point for another boundary. 13 from the over.
Over 7 | Score 49/1
Pragyan Ojha has been brought into the attack. Gambhir charged down the wicket off the second ball and cleared deep midwicket for a Six! 11 from the over. Time for a strategic timeout.
Over 6 | Score 38/1
Jasprit Bumrah has been brought into the attack. His first delivery had width on offer and Manish hit it over extra-cover for a boundary. Six from the over.
Over 5 | Score 32/2
Corey to continue. He offered some width to Manish off the second ball and he handsomely hit it straight down the ground for a Six! Manish got a big edge off the third ball, it flew over backward point for a boundary. 13 from the over.
Over 4 | Score 19/1
Vinay to continue. First ball was short and Gambhir pulled it past deep square leg for a boundary. Six from the over.
And this is what Yuvraj Singh has to say about Gambhir's broken bat! :)
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| Yuvraj Singh Comment |
Over 3 | Score 13/1
Corey Anderson has been brought into the attack. He bowled the first one at Uthappa's pads and he flicked it over deep square leg for a Six! Uthappa hit the third ball straight to Corey who got his hands to it, but couldn't hold on to it. But Uthappa couldn't make that chance count as he edged the fifth delivery towards first slip where Harbhajan Singh took a very easy catch. That's a big blow for KKR considering the role Uthappa played for them last year. Manish Pandey is the new man in. Anderson welcomed him with a beautiful inswinger which almost hit the stumps. Eight from the over.
RV Uthappa c Harbhajan Singh b Anderson 9 (12b)
Mumbai innings:
Over 2 | Score 5/0
Vinay Kumar has been brought into the attack. Gambhir charged down the wicket off the first ball, hit it from the middle off the bat and the bottom part of his bat was broken. Vinay produced the chance of the first breakthrough when he swung the last ball away from Gambhir, who edged it but Aditya Tare grassed it. Excellent start from Vinay Kumar as well.
Over 1 | Score 3/0
Lasith Malinga to bowl the first over for Mumbai, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa to open for KKR. Excellent start by Malinga, just three from the first over.
KKR innings:
Over 20 | Score 168/3
Shakib to bowl the final over. He started with a full-toss and Anderson hit it over deep midwicket for a Six! Anderson charged down the wicket off the second ball, hit it towards deep square leg where Morne Morkel dropped a tough low catch, two runs scored. Anderson took a single off the third ball. Rohit hit the fourth ball overs covers for a boundary. Rohit took a single off the fifth ball which means he will remain unbeaten on 98. Anderson smashed the last ball over wide of long-on for another Six! 20 off the over and it has been a superb fightback from these two batsmen.
Rohit Sharma 98* (65b) Corey Anderson 55* (41b)
Over 19 | Score 148/3
Russell to bowl the penultimate over. Anderson charged down the wicket off the first ball and hit it straight down the ground for a Six! Anderson took a single off the second ball. Russell bowled a half-volley to Rohit who smashed it over long-off for a Six! Rohit got a bottom edge off the fourth ball and took a single. Russell's penultimate delivery was a good bouncer to Anderson, a dot ball. Anderson took a single off the last ball. 15 from the over. Rohit is batting on 93 and it would be interesting to see whether he can smash another ton at the Eden Gardens.
Over 18 | Score 133/3
Shakib to bowl his final over. Rohit played the second ball towards wide of long-on where Russell tried his best but while he pushed the back ball into the ground, he was already touching the boundary! Shakib bowled a full-toss to Anderson who hit it over the bowler's head for a boundary. 11 from the over. Rohit is batting on 86.
Over 17 | Score 122/3
Narine to bowl his final over. Rohit charged down the wicket off the third ball, it was a leg spinner, Rohit edged it and Uthappa not only missed out on the catch, but also missed out the stumping chance. Rohit swept the fourth ball past midwicket for a boundary. Rohit played a powerful slog sweep off the fifth ball and hit it over midwicket for a Six! 13 from the over. A forgettable spell from Narine 4-0-28-0 comes to an end.
Over 16 | Score 109/3
Shakib has been brought back into the attack. Anderson tried to attack off the first ball, hit it straight to midwicket where Andre Russell dropped a sitter! He offered some room to Rohit off the fourth ball and he hit it past covers for a boundary. 8 from the over.
Over 15 | Score 101/3
Umesh has been brought back into the attack. Rohit smashed the third ball past wide of long on for a boundary to reach his half-century off 46 balls. Next ball had width on offer and Rohit hit it over mid-off for another boundary. There was no respite for Umesh as Rohit hammered the fifth ball over deep midwicket for a Six! Umesh offered some width off the last ball and Rohit timed it beautifully past wide of third man for another boundary! 21 from the over! Massive hitting from Rohit here!
Over 14 | Score 80/3
Narine to bowl his third over. Just 4 from the over. Narine has hardly managed to make any impact with his new action.
Over 13 | Score 76/3
Chawla to continue. It was proving to be yet another good over before he bowled a short ball and Anderson hammered it straight down the ground for a boundary! 7 from the over.
Over 12 | Score 69/3
Russell to bowl his second over. Just three from the over.
Over 11 | Score 66/3
Piyush Chawla has been brought into the attack. Chawla offered width to Anderson off the last ball and he hit it off the backfoot past wide of long-off for a boundary. Nine from the over.
Over 10 | Score 57/3
Andre Russell has been brought into the attack. Three from the over.
Over 9 | Score 54/3
Narine to bowl his second over. Rohit was offered width off the fourth ball and he hit it between covers and backward point for a boundary. Six from the over. Time for the first strategic timeout.
Over 8 | Score 48/3
Anderson was offered width off the fourth ball and he smashed it past extra-cover for a boundary. Superb spell from Morkel (4-1-18-2) comes to an end.
Over 7 | Score 42/3
Sunil Narine has been brought into the attack. He started off with a fuller delivery and Rohit drove it past covers for a boundary. Five from the over.
Over 6 | Score 37/3
Morkel to continue. He started off with a good bouncer, and followed it with an even better well directed bouncer, Rayudu was looking to duck and he edged it to Yusuf Pathan at first slip. Corey Anderson walks to the crease. It's a wicket maiden from Morkel!
AT Rayudu c Pathan b Morkel 0 (2b)
Over 5 | Score 37/2
Shakib al Hasan has been brought into the attack. Rohit attacked him immediately and launched him straight down the ground for a Six! Tare charged down the wicket off the fourth ball, but hit it straight to Umesh at long-off. 9 from the over. Ambati Rayudu is the new man in.
AP Tare c UT Yadav b Shakib Al Hasan 7 (7b)
Over 4 | Score 28/1
Morkel to continue. Tare was offered width off the second ball and he smashed it over backward point for a boundary. Seven from the over.
Over 3 | Score 21/1
Umesh to continue. First ball was down the leg side and Rohit smashed it over midwicket for a boundary. Fourth ball had width on offer and Rohit drove it through covers for a boundary. Last ball once again had width on offer, Rohit went after it and even though the fielder at point tried his best, the ball went all the way to the boundary. Good over for Mumbai, 12 runs off it.
Over 2 | Score 9/1
Morne Morkel to bowl from the other end. The first ball drifted down the leg side and Finch timed it well past fine leg for a boundary. Finch was taken aback off the third ball which was a good bouncer, he hit it towards deep fine leg where Umesh Yadav took a neat catch. Aditya Tare is the new man in. Superb over from Morkel, five runs and big wicket from the over.
AJ Finch c UT Yadav b Morkel 5 (5b)
Over 1 | Score 4/0
Umesh Yadav to open the attack for KKR. Rohit Sharma and Aaron Finch to open for Mumbai. Good start for Kolkata, just 4 from the first over.
KKR have won the toss and they have decided to bowl first. Rohit Sharma is happy to lose the toss as Mumbai were looking to bat first.
ALSO SEE: FULL COVERAGE ON IPL 2015 | FIXTURES
The cricketing extravaganza will kick off in a great manner as Gautam Gambhir-led KKR take on Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians. While KKR are the defending champions, the latter comprises of star players who have the potential to beat any team on their day.
ALSO SEE: KKR's team profile | MI's team profile
KKR would be high on confidence considering the way they fought back last year after a poor start to the tournament. Gambhir and Robin Uthappa were in excellent form last year and the team will rely heavily on them to provide them a soild foundation at the top of the order.
Mumbai on the other hand have a star-studded line up in Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Corey Anderson and Lendl Simmons.
