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Tag: Kolkata Knight Riders

  • IPL 2021, Eliminator: Narine fires Kolkata into Qualifier 2 ending Kohli-led RCB’s trophy run

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets in the IPL Eliminator to set up the Qualifier 2 against Delhi Capitals.

    Skipper Virat Kohli made a 33-ball 39 while his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal contributed 21 runs.

    Spinner Sunil Narine rocked the RCB batting order with a four-wicket haul while Lockie Ferguson dismissed two batters.

    Narine then returned to play an impact knock of 26 runs off 15 balls after Shubhman Gill (29) and Venkatesh Iyer (26) provided a good start to KKR.

    Skipper Eoin Morgan (5) and Shakib Al Hasan (9) took the side home with two balls to spare.

    Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 138 for 7 in 20 overs (V Kohli 39, D Padikkal 21; S Narine 4/21, L Ferguson 2/30).

    Kolkata Knight Riders: 139 for 6 in 19.4 overs. (S Gill 29, V Iyer 26, S Narine 26, N Rana 23; Y Chahal 2/16, H Patel 2/19).

  • Sunil Narine takes four as KKR restrict RCB to 138/7 in IPL eliminator

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Electing to bat, Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 138 for seven against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL eliminator here on Monday.

    Skipper Virat Kohli made a 33-ball 39 while his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal contributed 21 runs.

    Spinner Sunil Narine rocked the RCB batting order with a four-wicket haul while Lockie Ferguson dismissed two batsmen.

    Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 138 for 7 in 20 overs (V Kohli 39, D Padikkal 21; S Narine 4/21, L Ferguson 2/30).

  • IPL 2021, Eliminator: Royal Challengers Bangalore win toss, elect to bat against Kolkata Knight riders

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat against Kolkata Knight riders in the IPL Eliminator here on Monday.

    Both the teams are unchanged from their previous matches.

    Chennai Super Kings have already booked their place in the summit clash on October 15.

    Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson and Varun Chakravarthy.

    Royal Challengers Banaglore: Virat Kohli (C), Devdutt Padikkal, KS Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dan Christian, George Garton, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammad Siraj.

  • IPL 2021: Lockie Ferguson is arguably one of the best T20 players, reckons KKR coach David Hussey

    By ANI

    SHARJAH: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) chief mentor David Hussey believes that pacer Lockie Ferguson is arguably one of the best T20 players in the world.

    This observation from Hussey came after Shivam Mavi picked four while Lockie Ferguson scalped three wickets as KKR thrashed Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 86 runs on Thursday.

    Talking about mastering the playing conditions at Sharjah, Hussey said: “Firstly, it’s never easy to play on these surfaces. I think, Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, and Nitish Rana showed their class once again and they have adapted accordingly. They know if they make it deep into batting innings they gonna make a decent target. For bowling, it’s bowl as fast as you can on the stumps and we also have some world-class spinners.”

    The KKR chief mentor also provided an update on Andre Russell. He said: “Andre Russell is just a game away, he had a fitness test yesterday. So, he might be pushing hard for the next few days to get back in the final which will be a huge boost not only for us but also for the competition.”

    “Our spinners compliment the quicks. Lockie and Shivam Mavi have shown their class one again. Lockie is arguably one of the best T20 players in the world. He regularly executes his balls and tonight his first two overs changed the tempo and momentum of the game for us.”

    Hussey also shared his thoughts on watching the match between Mumbai Indians and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday as he said: “Yeah of course we gonna watch tomorrow night’s game. We will watch it as a group as we normally do and start formulating some plans and yeah hopefully results go our way. Pretty much what I am looking forward to is the match [playoff] against RCB.”

  • Andre Russell likely to be available for play-offs: Kolkata Knight Riders mentor David Hussey

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Kolkata Knight Riders’ swashbuckling injured all-rounder Andre Russell is likely to be available for the play-offs stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) beginning on Sunday, the team’s chief mentor David Hussey said.

    KKR have virtually assured themselves of a play-offs berth in the IPL after their 86-run win over Rajasthan Royals on Thursday. They are set to play against the third-place team of the league phase in the Qualifier 1 on Sunday.

    “He (Russell) had a fitness test on Wednesday, and I think he’s just maybe a game away. So, I think he’d be pushing hard over the next few days to get back in for the final (play-offs). (His availability) will be a huge boost not only for us but the competition. He’s world-class and he provides lots of entertainment,” Hussey said at the post-match press conference on Thursday.

    With three play-offs spots already sealed by Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and Royals Challengers Bangalore, KKR consolidated their position for the fourth and final spot, finishing league engagements with 14 points from 14 games with an impressive net run rate of 0.587.

    He admitted that there has been a change in fortunes for the KKR in the UAE after struggling in the Indian leg.

    “At the halfway mark, we weren’t playing the type of cricket that we wanted to play. We are all about playing entertaining cricket — hitting fours, sixes — and with the ball, hitting the stumps, taking wickets, and fielding exceptionally well,” he said.

    “So, the break probably did us a world of good — we got to refresh, recharge our batteries and re-plan — and come to Abu Dhabi. Abhishek Nayar did a great training session, all the boys got a lot of volume and (were) ready to go,” explained Hussey on how the change occurred in the group.

    He credited head coach Brendon McCullum for the way KKR were playing. “He (Brendon) is so cool and calm that he’s got this plan and vision for the team to go forward. He believes in every player to play their best. He makes everybody feel that they are the most important person in the team. Brendon should take a lot of credit for the way everybody’s playing here tonight. Great for him, because he’s been through a lot,” Hussey said.

    The 44-year-old former Australia cricketer also lavished praise on his players for putting up a team performance. “It is never easy playing on these types of surfaces. Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (and) Rahul Tripathi showed their class once again, they sort of adapted their games accordingly, and they knew if they take it deep in the batting innings, they are going to make a decent target,” he said.

    “With the ball, pretty simple plans, bowled directly as fast as they can and at the stumps and we have got some world class spinners as well, and we back up each other in the field, so it was pretty much a team performance tonight,” Hussey said.

    He said that KKR will watch the final league game between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday “as a group” but they were looking forward to their play-offs game (Qualifier 1) against Royal Challengers Bangalore (likely to be third-place finishers).

    Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson lamented that none of his batters could build a partnership with Rahul Tewatia, who was going strong from one end.

    “Sharjah is his (Rahul Tewatia) favourite ground, he enjoys batting here. We could have a recent (decent) partnership with him. We could have had a close match, he was batting really well, he wanted someone else actually to be with him and have a good partnership. We didn’t do that and that’s why we ended up on the losing side,” Samson said.

    The Kerala batter also said that the biggest positive for his franchise was the performance of the young Indian players. “We have a lot of positives. If you look at the young Indians in our side, the way they came out and expressed themselves, the way they performed, that’s one of the biggest positives this season,” he said.

  • Rajasthan Royals opt to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to field against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.

    RR made four changes bringing in Liam Livingstone, Jaydev Unadkat, Chris Morris and Anuj Rawat.

    KKR brought back fit again Lockie Ferguson in place of Tim Southee.

    Teams:

    Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson (c), Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Rahul Tewatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

    Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy

  • IPL 2021: KKR beat Rajasthan Royals by 86 runs

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by 86 runs in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.

    KKR made 171 for four against Rajasthan Royals who in response were shot out for 85 in 16.1 overs.

    Shubman Gill scored 56 off 44 balls for KKR while his opening partner Venkatesh Iyer made 38 off 35 balls.

    Shivam Mavi took four wickets for KKR and Lockie Ferguson took three.

    Brief scores:

    KKR 171/4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 56; Chris Morris 1/28, Chetan Sakariya 1/23). Rajasthan Royals 85 all out in 16.1 overs (Rahul Tewatia 44; Lockie Ferguson 3/18, Shivam Mavi 4/21).

  • IPL 2021: KKR eye handsome win over Rajasthan Royals to remain ahead in play-off race 

    By PTI

    SHARJAH: Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders would strive for a handsome win over struggling Rajasthan Royals in their last round-robin game to stay ahead in the IPL play-offs race here on Thursday.

    With 12 points from 13 matches, KKR are currently sitting at the fourth position in the pecking order, just ahead of defending champions Mumbai Indians on net run-rate.

    MI too have 12 points from 13 games and still have a match to play against bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.

    If both KKR and MI win their last matches, then it will boil down to net run rate and that’s where the Eoin Morgan-led side (0.294) would have an edge as it currently enjoys a positive run rate compared to the Mumbai outfit (-0.048).

    KKR had a mixed bag in the second leg of the tournament so far, winning four and losing two games.

    While KKR started the second phase with back-to-back wins over Royal Challengers Bangalore and MI before suffering a defeat to Chennai Super Kings, they came back to beat table toppers Delhi Capitals.

    A defeat against Punjab Kings followed before they outplayed SRH by six wickets to keep their nose ahead in the race for the final play-offs spot.

    KKR have been impressive in the second half and even their two defeats were narrow, where they lost in the last over.

    In the batting department, Venkatesh Iyer has been the star performer in the second leg for KKR, while Rahul Tripathi too has been impressive this season.

    Young Shubman Gill scored a fine half-century in KKR’s last match, which holds good for the team.

    Nitish Rana, up in the batting order, has also done well but the form of skipper Morgan remains a cause for concern.

    The induction of star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan in the last match for the first time in the second leg, has given a new dimension to the side.

    In bowling, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been the team’s go-to man while Sunil Narine too has been among the wickets.

    In the absence of Andre Russell and Lockie Ferguson, who missed a few games following injuries, Tim Southee and Shivam Mavi are the new pace bowling pair for KKR.

    Pacer Prasidh Krishna did well to snap four wickets in the matches that he had played, before being dropped for conceding 22 runs in the 19th over, against CSK.

    RR are out of the race, languishing at the seventh spot in the eight-team standings with 10 points from 13 games. And come Thursday, RR would look to dent KKR’s hopes and end their campaign on a positive note.

    RR have been hit hard by the form of their Indian batsmen. Barring Yashahvi Jaiswal and, to some extent, skipper Sanju Samson, the team’s Indian batsmen lacked intent.

    With Mustafizur Rahaman as their most experienced overseas signing and young Chetan Sakariya in the ranks, RR’s bowling is a bit thin on experience.

    Teams | Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (captain), Dinesh Karthik, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathy, Shubman Gill, Harbhajan Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pawan Negi, M Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Dube, Tim Southee, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russel, Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert.

    Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (captain), Liam Livingstone, Evin Lewis, David Miller, Chris Morris, Oshane Thomas, Mustafizur Rahaman, Tabraiz Shamsi, Glenn Phillips, Chetan Sakariya, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Akash Singh, Anuj Rawat, KC Cariappa, Yashashvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat, Kuldip Yadav, Mahipal Lomror.

    Match starts at 7:30 PM.

  • Family congratulates SRH pacer Umran Malik after excellent show in debut game against KKR

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: SunRisers Hyderabad pace sensation Umran Malik was in tears as his family congratulated him on an excellent debut in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday night. The Jammu and Kashmir cricketer’s family also wished him luck for the upcoming games.

    “Umran, congratulations to you for getting a chance to play in the IPL. I keep praying for you, my prayers are always with you. Just keep performing well,” his mother said in a video posted by SRH on Twitter.

    “Umran, you have got an opportunity to play in the IPL. Our prayers are always with you. We hope you are happy, wherever you are. Entire Jammu and Kashmir is happy for you,” his father said.

    Sharing his joy, Umran’s brother said: “Congratulations you are getting a chance to play in the IPL. Everyone is proud of you, we are eagerly waiting to see you on television. Best of luck brother.”

    His sister said she was proud of his effort in the opening game. “Congratulations Umran for getting a chance to play in the IPL. I pray that you give your 100 per cent and make us feel proud,” she said.

    Umran impressed one and all with his quick pace to rattle the opposition batters on Sunday night. Umar, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, clocked two deliveries over 150 kmph on the speed gun and his fastest ball was 151.03. As a result, he is now the only Indian in the top ten for this season to deliver the fastest balls.

    The 21-year-old clocked a delivery at 146 kmph speed in his very first over, and he then entered 150s twice on the speed gun.

    In fact, SRH skipper Kane Williamson had also praised him and said: “We’ve been facing him in the nets, and it’s something quite special. He’s got a lot of pace, he runs in and goes hard. He racked up some fast speeds as well, which is pretty special. What a talent!”

  • Not a personal battle, everybody is different: Ashwin on spat with KKR skipper Eoin Morgan

    By PTI

    DUBAI: Senior Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has sought to end the controversy surrounding his on-field showdown with England skipper Eoin Morgan over an extra run during an IPL match, saying it was not a personal battle but a difference of opinion on how the game should be played.

    During last week’s IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders, which is captained by Morgan, Ashwin tried to take a run after a throw ricocheted off his batting partner Rishabh Pant’s body.

    Morgan and Ashwin then had an altercation with the England white-ball skipper calling the Indian a “disgrace” and accusing him of not adhering to the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ despite the fact that MCC rules allow scoring of runs after rebound from a batsman’s body.

    England had benefitted from such a rebound not so long ago when they were awarded four runs after a throw from the deep struck Ben Stokes’ bat during the 2019 World Cup final, and the umpire signalled overthrows, leading to their title triumph.

    “Look, I think it’s definitely not a personal battle or one on one battle and I wouldn’t deem it like that at all. People who want attention may be taking it that way, but I am not looking at it that way at all,” Ashwin said after last night’s game against Chennai Super Kings.

    “…I was not the one who was aware that it had hit Rishabh (Pant). So I just felt like they had already decided they were going to have a go, and that is one of the reasons why I said the words that were used were not in the right direction and not in the right space,” he explained.

    He was referring to his Twitter posts after that game in which he asked Morgan and Tim Southee to not use “derogatory” words and lecture him on ‘Spirit of Cricket’ by taking a moral high ground. After Ashwin’s dismissal in that match, fast bowler Southee had apparently rebuked the senior India star by saying, “That’s what happens when you cheat”.

    Ashwin was then seen charging towards Morgan and Southee, prompting Dinesh Karthik to intervene and douse the fire. “I think we need to understand that culturally everybody is different right, the way people are taught to play cricket in England and in India, the way one thinks is completely different,” Ashwin said.

    “I wouldn’t say that there is anybody that is wrong here. It is just that the way the game was played in 1940s, cannot be the same way that you want somebody else to apply it (now),” he said.