The Kolkata Knight Riders took on the Delhi Daredevils in the 33rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Daredevils in desperate need of a win to keep their slim hopes of winning the league alive.
As both the Kolkata captain, Gautam Gambir, and his Delhi counterpart, Virender Sehwag, made their way on to the pitch, one could sense the level of anticipation in the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi steadily rising.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl first it seemed that Sehwag was confident going into the match despite his side’s recent form. “If me (Sehwag) and Warner click, we can chase any total,” he added.
Jacques Kallis and Shreevat Goswami made their way to the crease as they looked to get their side off to a strong start. In their way was the unpredictable Irfan Pathan. Kallis was fortunate not to be heading back to the pavilion after he was dropped on the second to last delivery of the first over, when Warner perhaps should have done better with the catch.
The games first and second boundaries came in quick succession in the second over when Albie Morkel found himself on the receiving end of some fine stroke play by Goswami. The third over was a display of Pathan at his vintage best, with the bowler giving away just two runs and applying some early pressure onto the batsmen.
While Pathan was in fine form, Morkel was struggling as he went for 13 runs in the next over after three deliveries found their way to the ropes.
Goswami seemed to be in trouble on the first delivery of the next over but he was ruled not out by the third umpire as he just managed to make it into the crease in time. Kallis though was playing like a man possessed and got his reward two deliveries later when the ball crashed into the leg stump.
Gambir was the next man in and was quick to get off the mark, yet his partnership with Goswami was short lived as the latter was caught behind for 22 runs after a peach of a delivery from Ajit Agarkar.
Manoj Tiwary and Gautham Gambir got a much needed partnership going as the pair guided their side to the next few overs with keeping wickets seeming to be their main priority.
By the end of the first 10 overs the Kolkata Knight Riders were going at a relatively slow 6.40 runs per over and putting together a shaky 64 runs.
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