IPL 2014 Final: Kings XI vs Knight Riders

EFT Report, Bangalore: Storming into an Indian Premier League (IPL) final for the first time, Kings XI Punjab are all charged up to take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday, June 1, 2014.

Though Kings lost to Knights by 28 runs in the first qualifier in Kolkata on Wednesday, they bounced back to beat Chennai Super Kings by 24 runs for the third time to make their first appearance in IPL final.

With dashing opener Virendra Sehwag back in form, as evident Friday from his flamboyant 122 in 58 balls (8x6, 12x4) against CSK, Kings' middle order - Glenn Maxwell, David Miller and captain George Bailey - have to fire again as in the league games, which made them head the points table (22), with a record 11 wins and three losses.

In their league encounters, both the finalists had the honours of winning and losing to each other.

After Kings won by 23 runs at Abu Dhabi April 26 during the tournament's first leg, Knights avenged this by winning by nine wickets at Cuttack May 11.

Interestingly, while Kings won all its five league ties in the UAE leg, Knights bounced back with seven consecutive wins in the tournament's domestic leg against other teams, resulting in grabbing 18 points from nine wins and five losses.

Knights were title holders in 2012 having beaten CSK in Chennai, while the former won twice (2010, 2011) and were runners up thrice -- in 2008 against Rajasthan, 2012 against Knights and Mumbai Indians 2013.

Kings bowlers will be under pressure again, as they were against CSK whose south paw Suresh Raina exposed their chinks Friday with an explosive innings of 87 in just 25.

But for a smart run-out by Bailey when Raina was in full cry after posting 100 runs on board in just six overs of power-play, Kings would not have been in finals even through eliminator.

While Kings will bet on Mitchell Johnson and Parvinder Awana for early breakthrough, onus will be on Sandeep Sharma and Akshar Patel containing Knights' marauders like its orange cap holder and opener Robin Uttappa, captain Gautham Gambhir, Manish Pandey and the unpredictable Yusuf Pathan, who can script victory at ease.

Similarly, Knights' bowling quartet, led by wily spinners Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla and pacers Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav will face the heat if Kings' Sehwag, Maxwell and Miller get going on a batting wicket under floodlights in front a 40,000-strong packed stadium.

Toss and truant weather will also play a key role, as a spell of pre-monsoon rain or thunder showers is forecast for Sunday night.

Teams

Kings: Manan Vohra, Virender Sehwag, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, George Bailey (c), Wriddhiman Saha (k), Akshar Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Rishi Dhawan, Karanveer Singh, Parvinder Awana, Shivam Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shaun Marsh, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Mandeep Singh, Anureet Singh, Beuran Hendricks, Murali Kartik, Shardul Thakur, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Sandeep Sharma,

Knights: Gautam Gambhir (c), Robin Uthappa (k), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Suryakumar Yadav, Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Jacques Kallis, Manvinder Bisla, Kuldeep Yadav, Veer Pratap Singh, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sayan Mondal, Pat Cummins, Debabrata Das and Vinay Kumar.

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Duminy Helps Daredevils Win Against KKR

EFT Report, Dubai: J.P. Duminy played a thrilling innings to take the Delhi Daredevils to a four-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, April 19, 2014.

Chasing a challenging target of 167, the South African played a swashbuckling knock of 52 not out to take the Daredevils home with a six - with three balls to spare.

Daredevils opener Murali Vijay did not give the team the start they required, getting out for a duck on his second delivery. However, Mayank Agarwal (26 off 14) looked impressive but got caught in a soft dismissal at square leg. New Zealand's Ross Taylor (6) also got out soon after but captain Dinesh Karthik kept the flow of runs going for his team.

Karthik, who got out for zero in his last match, looked in sublime touch as he scored a fluent 56 off 40 deliveries, including five fours and two sixes. He also got good support from Duminy, who had also struck an important half-century in their opening match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore Thursday.

Just when it was looking that the Daredevils would romp home thanks to Karthik, mystery spinner Sunil Narine turned the tables by getting the captain out leg before wicket.

Duminy now decided to take the role of the anchor as piled as he smashed three sixes and boundaries each. Manoj Tiwary (8) and James Neehsam (8) did not get many runs but stuck in their to aid Duminy, who appeared a man on a mission.

Morne Morkel's 18th over proved to be the difference when Duminy smashed 21 runs off the over, including two sixes and a boundary to bring down the asking rate to 11 off 12.

Delhi suffered a hiccup or two but reached home with another Duminy six to bag the team's first win of the tournament.

Earlier, the Knight Riders recovered from an early slump to put up a fighting total of 166/5.

The 2012 edition champions had a disastrous start after electing to bat as both openers Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis got out for a duck. It was the second successive zero for captain Gambhir, who played on a Nathan Coulter-Nile delivery to backward short leg.

However, Manish Pandey (48) and Robin Uthappa (55) took control of the ship and steered it through the middle overs. The duo provided stability to the innings by a 64-run third-wicket partnership to take the team out of trouble.

The Daredevils bowlers, however, managed to keep a check on the economy rate and did not allow the Knight Riders batsmen to go for the shots. Trying to accelerate, Pandey perished when he was bowled by spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.

But Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (30 not out) provided good support to Uthappa, who went on to score a half-century. The explosive batsman hit six boundaries and a six in his 41-ball knock before getting out. Their partnership of 57 runs also came at a good time for the team.

Some lusty blows towards the end by Al Hasan took the Kolkata-based team to a 150-par score. Later, Suryakumar Yadav (8 not out) hit two boundaries off the last two balls to take his team to a fighting total.

Brief scores: 
Kolkata Knight Riders 166/5 in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 55, Manish Pandey 48, Shakib Al Hasab 30 not out; Nathan Coulter-Nile 2/27, Jaydev Unadkat 1/25, Shahbaz Nadeem 1/29) lost to Delhi Daredevils 167/6 in 19.3 overs (Dinesh Karthik 56, JP Duminy 52 not out, Mayank Agarwal 26; Morne Morkel 2/41, Jacques Kallis 1/15, Sunil Narine 1/18)

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Shane Watson to Lead Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2014

Report by Santanu Ganguly: Rajasthan Royals announced Shane Watson as the captain of the team for the upcoming Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014. Shane Watson has been with the Royals since the inaugural season in 2008 and contributed to the team at all levels. Rahul Dravid, who retired from all forms of cricket in 2013, will be involved in all aspects of cricket strategy- mentoring the team and guide youth and talent development initiatives for the franchise.

Watson’s strong performances helped Rajasthan Royals win the inaugural IPL in 2008, while playing under the inspiring leadership of Shane Warne. The young Australian displayed his all-round skills and match-winning performances in crucial ties, and eventually was adjudged the Player-of-the-Tournament.

The Queensland-based all-rounder continued to play an integral part of the franchise in subsequent editions, and in 2012, he played under another legendary player and former India skipper Rahul Dravid. In Pepsi IPL 2013, Watson scored his first century in IPL and Twenty20, playing against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium. His strong performances continued and subsequently took the team to the Play-Offs that year, with Watson winning his second Player-of-the-Tournament award.

Rahul Dravid, the former captain of Rajasthan Royals, said: “I would like to congratulate Shane Watson on his appointment as the Captain of the Royals. He is not only one of the world's best all-rounders, but a leader par excellence. Watson has been with the team since the first season and is familiar with the players and the staff. The Royals Squad is a bunch of extremely energetic and talented players who know their roles perfectly well and I am sure they will thrive under Watson’s inspiring leadership.”

Shane Watson, the newly appointed captain, said: "I am honoured to lead the Rajasthan Royals, an extraordinary team which has always given me amazing opportunities. Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid had a lot of faith in me while they were captains and gave me opportunities that helped improve my cricket. I hope to live up to the confidence shown in me by the franchise and give our fans an exciting season of cricket. I would like to thank our fans for showing trust in me through their votes on the digital medium. The Royals are one big family and I feel very privileged to be a part of such a special franchise."

“My aim will be to continue playing our best cricket and maintain the winning momentum. We all want to repeat the 2008 IPL success and last season, we were quite close to that. I am confident that we can do it again," Watson added.

Raghu Iyer, CEO, Rajasthan Royals, said: “We are delighted to announce Watson as Captain. He epitomises all the values of the Royals franchise with his true grit and never-say-die attitude. His skills and experience will surely help the team build on the superb performance last season. His presence in the team will also help young players like Sanju Samson, Unmukt Chand, James Faulkner, Steve Smith and Tim Southee.” He added, “We’d also like to thank our fans who have supported us unstintingly and came out strongly on the digital medium in favour of Watto as Captain for the upcoming seasons! We are confident all Royals fans will get behind Watson and the team and drive us to perform our best on the field.”

The 32-year-old Aussie was bestowed with the 2010 Allan Border Medal and again in 2011 by Cricket Australia, becoming the second player, after Ricky Ponting, to win back-to back Allan Border Medals. Shane Watson was declared Player-of-the-Tournament in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 for scoring a total of 249 with an average of 49.80, while taking 11 wickets with the ball. Since he joined Rajasthan Royals, Watson has been the team’s best all-rounder, notching 1,785 runs in 55 matches, scoring one century and 11 half-centuries at a strike rate of 145.59. In bowling, he claimed 48 wickets with a best figure of 3/10.

Watto, as he is popularly known, will be using six years of experience with the Royals to be the driving force of the team and help deliver wonderful performances for the team’s fans and supporters.

For the Pepsi IPL 2014 season, Rajasthan Royals retained their star performer Watto, who is very popular among Rajasthan fans, before the fresh auction, along with Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny and Sanju Samson.

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