Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team to reach the finals of IPL season five, pushing the league toppers
Delhi Daredevils to the second Qualifier.
Knight Riders' made it to their first IPL final defeating Daredevils by 18 runs. However, Delhi has another chance to enter the final when they meet the winners of the first eliminator between
Mumbai Indians and
Chennai Super Kings, on Wednesday.
Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders : 162/4 in 20 Overs
Delhi Daredevils : 144/8 in 20 Overs
 |
| Yusuf Pathan was at his best in the IPL 5 first qualifier |
|
It was Yusuf Pathan's rise to form, for the first time in the tournament, that gave Knight Riders a competitive total on the board. Kolkata was once 106 for 4 at the end of the 16th over. But Pathan and Lakshmirattan Shukla put togther an unbeaten partnership of 56 runs from just 24 deliveries. Yusuf scored 40 from just 21 balls wit the help of three fours and two DLF maxima and Shukla complemented with a well made 24 from just 11 balls including three boundaries and a DLF maximum.
In reply to a challenging target of 163, Delhi fumbled in the beginning itself with Balaji bowling on fire. They lost both the openers Virender Sehwag (10) and David Warner (7) and Kolkata succeeded in putting early pressure on Delhi. However, Naman Ojha (29) and the 'technician' Mahela Jayawardene (40) tried to move the scoreboard with some classy and cheeky shots. But Kolkata spinners were not to give it up and continued to build up pressure on Delhi with economical spells. Sunil Narine continued to be mysterious and troubled the Delhi batsmen a lot with his variations. Jacques Kallis made a rain of bouncers against Naman Ojha and Venugopala Rao and they could not counter it. Delhi's decision to sent out Ross Taylor down the order really backfired them and when he came out the required run rate had climbed up out of reach. The tailenders could not do much with the bat and Delhi Daredevils fell short of the target by 18 runs.
Earlier,
Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a good start with Brendon McCullum (31), Gautam Gambhir (32) and Jack Kallis (30) finding themselves among the runs. Late fireworks from Yusuf and Shukla ensured a good total. Except Irfan Pathan, all the Delhi quicks including, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron were very much expensive and the last over from Aaron went for 21 runs.
It was a very dominant performance from Kolkata Knight Riders and Gautam Gambhir's captaincy skills were proved once again. SRK's cheers from the gallery were not in vain as KKR saw their first IPL final.
| Kolkata Knight Riders | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|
| BB McCullum | c Warner b Negi | 31 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 86.11 |
|
| G Gambhir | run out (Venugopal Rao) | 32 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 200.00 |
|
| JH Kallis | c Taylor b Yadav | 30 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 90.90 |
|
| Shakib Al Hasan | c Ojha b Pathan | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
|
| YK Pathan | not out | 40 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 190.47 |
|
| LR Shukla | not out | 24 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 218.18 |
|
| Extras | (lb 2, w 2) | 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Total | (4 wickets; 20 overs) | 162 | (8.10 runs per over) |
| Did not bat DB Das, R Bhatia, Iqbal Abdulla, SP Narine, L Balaji |
| Fall of wickets 1-48 (Gambhir, 5.5 ov), 2-87 (McCullum, 12.4 ov), 3-91 (Shakib Al Hasan, 13.4 ov), 4-106 (Kallis, 15.6 ov) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|
|
| IK Pathan | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 5.00 | (1w) |
|
| UT Yadav | 4 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 9.25 | (1w) |
|
| M Morkel | 4 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 9.25 |
|
|
| VR Aaron | 4 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 12.00 |
|
|
| P Negi | 4 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 4.50 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Delhi Daredevils | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|
| DA Warner | c McCullum b Shakib Al Hasan | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 116.66 |
|
| V Sehwag | c McCullum b Balaji | 10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 142.85 |
|
| NV Ojha | c Gambhir b Bhatia | 28 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 100.00 |
|
| DPMD Jayawardene | st McCullum b Iqbal Abdulla | 40 | 33 | 6 | 0 | 121.21 |
|
| Y Venugopal Rao | c Bhatia b Kallis | 13 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 59.09 |
|
| P Negi | st McCullum b Narine | 14 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 127.27 |
|
| LRPL Taylor | c sub (PJ Sangwan) b Kallis | 11 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 137.50 |
|
| IK Pathan | not out | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 200.00 |
|
| M Morkel | c Bhatia b Narine | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
|
| UT Yadav | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
|
| Extras | (b 4, lb 5, w 5) | 14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total | (8 wickets; 20 overs) | 144 | (7.20 runs per over) |
| Fall of wickets 1-24 (Warner, 1.6 ov), 2-24 (Sehwag, 2.1 ov), 3-83 (Ojha, 10.2 ov), 4-108 (Jayawardene, 14.4 ov), 5-120 (Venugopal Rao, 16.5 ov), 6-133 (Taylor, 18.5 ov), 7-142 (Negi, 19.3 ov), 8-142 (Morkel, 19.4 ov) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|
|
| L Balaji | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 5.50 | (1w) |
|
| Shakib Al Hasan | 4 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 9.00 |
|
|
| JH Kallis | 4 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 6.00 | (3w) |
|
| SP Narine | 4 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 6.00 |
|
|
| Iqbal Abdulla | 4 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 6.00 |
|
|
| R Bhatia | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 8.00 |
|
What Others Said:
