slower ball, and Pandey yells "yes, yes, yes!" as he wrists it to the right of mid-on. He sprints through, and would have probably beaten the throw, which missed the stumps anyway.
Kings XI vs KKR, 34th match at Cuttack, IPL, May 11 2014 - Match Result
KKR won by 9 wickets (with 12 balls remaining)
7.25pm Presentation time. There's the merest hint of a smile on Gautam Gambhir's face as he signs the match ball and picks up the Man of the Match award. It broadens when he credits his new-born daughter for the turnaround in his fortunes.
"Robin's taken a lot of pressure of me since he started opening," he says. "On this kind of wicket, a lot of credit goes to Morne Morkel as well. Chawla bowled brilliantly, hopefully he can continue the same way."
That's it for us from this game. Thanks for tuning in, and sending in your comments. Make sure you follow our commentary for the 8.00pm game as well.
Here's Robin Uthappa: "Happy to contribute to the team's success. Gautam's instinct is to bat second, and all of us are on board with him. We knew they (Punjab) could be a little complacent, and we wanted to make use of any gaps they gave us."
Rehman: "This is the right time in the tournament to peak.There is always an outside risk if a team peaks too early in the tournament.Punjab has to be cautious."
George Bailey says "yeah, it would have been handy" when he's asked if he would have liked to have another spinner. They left out Shivam Sharma after a good performance against Bangalore, and they did look a spinner short on this pitch.
Absolutely crushing win for KKR. Kings XI never recovered after they scored only 64 in the second half of their innings. Kolkata played smart cricket during their chase, after Uthappa set them on their way with a sparkling innings at the top of the order. Gambhir made his third straight half-century, which is some comeback after starting the season with three straight ducks, and they got home with absolutely no fuss and two overs remaining.
One to get now.
punched to cover, and Maxwell throws at the bowler's end again. He misses again, and they walk an overthrow.
short, Gambhir swats it with an almost vertical bat to the right of deep backward square leg.
short, flat-batted pull to deep midwicket.
short, slower ball, Pandey mistimes his pull, and Maxwell sprinting from midwicket, underarms it at the unmanned stumps and misses, giving away two overthrows.
full and straight, Pandey uses his wrists to play the pick-up shot over midwicket.
In comes Sandeep now.
Gambhir gets on his toes, tucks it off his hips, behind square.
wristy push down to long-on.
dropped! Short, Gambhir top-edges his pull, and it drops into Bailey's hands at midwicket and pops back out.
another slower ball, onto the pads, tucked away to deep backward square.
slower ball, fullish, on off. Gambhir swipes it to long-on.
worked towards long-on, and the batsmen aren't running too quickly. Mitch picks it up and releases quickly. They go to the third umpire for the direct hit at the bowler's end but Pandey is safe.
works it down to wide long on.
short, wide, rubbish ball, and Gambhir's punch sends it soaring over cover and well away from a sprinting long-off. Gambhir raises his bat. Third fifty of the season.
down the track, chips it to deep midwicket.
pulled down to long-on
Gambhir set off as soon as Pandey pushed that to cover, even though it went straight to Bailey, but Akshar didn't collect his throw cleanly.
shortish ball, angled in, Pandey is deep in his crease to punch to mid off.
They've taken a time-out now. Gambhir's three short of a half-century. Here comes Akshar now.
length ball on leg stump, worked away into the on side.
another slower legcutter, and Pandey opens his face to guide it to Mandeep's right at point. He dives, the ball ricochets off his right hand and the sweeper throws to the bowler's end. There was a bit of hesitation, but Dhawan missed the throw and disturbed the bails with his hands instead.
1W | 1W | |||
1W | ||||
1W | 1W | |||
Barabati Stadium, Cuttack | |
Toss | Kolkata Knight Riders, elected to field first |
Series | |
Season | 2014 |
Player Of The Match | |
Hours of play (local time) | 16.00 start, First Session 16.00-17.25, Interval 17.25-17.45, Second Session 17.45-19.10 |
Match days | 11 May 2014 - daynight (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee | |
Points | Kolkata Knight Riders 2, Kings XI Punjab 0 |
Over 18 • KKR 150/1
KKR won by 9 wickets (with 12 balls remaining)