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Tag: Kolkata Knight Riders

  • Kolkata Knight Riders opt to bowl, Rohit Sharma returns to lead Mumbai Indians

    By PTI

    ABU DHABI: Kolkata Knight Riders opted to bowl against Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.

    Rohit Sharma, who missed the team’s opener against Chennai Super Kings, returned to lead Mumbai while KKR did not make any changes from the last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

    Hardik Pandya once again did not feature in Mumbai’s playing XI.

    Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

    Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

  • Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya are recovering very well: Trent Boult

    By PTI

    ABU DHABI: Mumbai Indians pacer Trent Boult is not sure if skipper Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya would feature in their next IPL game on Thursday but said both of them are recovering well.

    West Indies’ Kieron Pollard had led the side against Chennai Super Kings in the absence of Rohit, who has a dodgy knee while Pandya also missed the game due to a niggle.

    “They are both recovering very well. In terms of their selection for the next game, I’m not too sure what’s going on there. But day by day, they are improving,” Boult said during a virtual press conference on the eve of their game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

    “They are obviously two vital players in the XI for Mumbai. And we’re desperate to get them back. So, fingers crossed that they’ll be pretty good to go over the next couple of games,” added the New Zealand pacer.

    Boult said Rohit was “sorely missed” in the game against CSK but defended the team management’s decision to rest the star opener.

    “He is right up there in terms of experience and runs achieved in this format. So, it was a big hole but it was a good decision to make sure he is 100 per cent with the amount of cricket coming up. If he comes to the eleven, it will be brilliant, but we want to make sure he is 100 percent fit,” said Boult.

    The defending champions have a better record against KKR in the cash-rich league but Boult believes that history does not matter in this format.

    “It is more about starting afresh, every game is such a big game, every match is important now. History is history, it is nice to have previous results against them, but they are a quality side and we would not take them lightly,” said the left-arm pacer.

    Boult, 32, also felt that competing in the IPL was good preparation ahead of the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the UAE and Oman in October-November.

    “You could probably not have any better build-up to the tournament like the T20 World Cup. The focus is on what’s on for the next couple of weeks, but in terms of preparation, it is very good. Conditions can change quite quickly but having to deal with the heat and humidity is a big challenge at this stage. It is going to be interesting to see how conditions move over the course of the next few weeks,” Boult signed off.

  • Clinical Kolkata Knight Riders outplay Royal Challengers Bangalore, win by nine wickets

    By PTI

    ABU DHABI: An authoritative Kolkata Knight Riders bossed Royal Challengers Bangalore from the beginning to the end to record a convincing nine-wicket win in their Indian Premier League match here on Monday.

    Showing serious intent after their mediocre outing in the first phase of the league earlier this year, the Knight Riders bowlers fired in unison to bundle out Royal Challengers Bangalore for a paltry 92.

    Then, the opening duo of Shubman Gill and debutant Venkatesh Iyer played some breathtaking shots and made light work of the chase of 93, completing the formality with as many as 10 overs to spare.

    The supremely-talented Gill got out for a 48 off 34 deliveries while Iyer, who could have been a successful management professional after finishing his MBA in finance and giving up a placement as a tax consultant, was looking good on a 27-ball 41 not out when the winning run was hit.

    The result will not just boost their morale immensely but also improve KKR’s net run rate going ahead.

    Opening the bowling, architect-turned-mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy (3/13) did the star turn with three wickets in an excellent four-over spell.

    Star all-rounder Andre Russell (3/9 in three overs) also bagged three wickets, including AB de Villiers’ golden duck, while there were two for Lockie Ferguson.

    Devdutt Padikkal was the highest scorer with 22 runs in a forgettable outing in skipper Virat Kohli’s 200th game for RCB.

    Bowling the day’s second over, right-arm medium pacer Prasidh Krishna dealt RCB a big blow when he had Virat Kohli trapped in front of wicket with his fourth delivery that jagged in and hit him above the knee-roll.

    Having completed a double century of matches for RCB, Kohli went for a review but the ball-tracking technology confirmed that it was going on to hit the stumps.

    This was immediately after Kohli sent a Krishna delivery in front of square on the off-side for a lovely four.

    New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson replaced Chakravarthy and the gifted Devdutt Padikkal smashed the pacer straight over his head to get things moving for RCB.

    Krishna bowled back-to-back no balls (one front foot and one beamer) in the next over and while debutant Srikar Bharat failed to break the shackles, Padikkal capitalised on the extra delivery with a boundary.

    KKR skipper Eoin Morgan made another bowling change by bringing in Sunil Narine and while the Trinidadian spinner could not get a breakthrough in his first over, Ferguson succeeded in his second when he had Padikkal caught behind when the batsman tried to play the ball fine past the keeper despite hardly getting any room to execute the ramp shot.

    Russell ended Bharat’s stay in the middle as the pressure mounted on the batsman.

    And then came the biggest blow for RCB when Russell bowled AB de Villiers for a first-ball duck with a top-notch yorker targeting the leg-stump.

    RCB were in all sorts of trouble at 52 for four in the ninth over and it became only worse for them with the departure of Glenn Maxwell, who brought his own downfall with a needless heave against Chakravarthy’s tossed-up delivery, and Wanindu Hasaranga, the team’s another debutant, getting out cheaply.

    Both the batsmen were dismissed off successive balls on a surface that was on the slower side, something that Kohli talked about after opting to bat at the toss.

  • RCB win toss, elect to bat against KKR in Virat Kohli’s 200th game

    By PTI

    ABU DHABI: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League match here on Monday.

    KS Bharat and Wanindu Hasaranga will make their debut for RCB, while Venkatesh Iyer is set to play his maiden IPL game for KKR.

    Kohli is playing in a landmark 200th match for RCB, a team that he has been a part of since the beginning of the lucrative league in 2008.

    “More special than the 200th game is this uniform: we promised that we would be playing for the Covid warriors, with these jerseys being auctioned for people,” Kohli said at the toss.

    The Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (capt), Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna.

    Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (capt), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, Sachin Baby, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal.

  • Kolkata Knight Riders name Tim Southee as replacement for Pat Cummins

    By ANI

    KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named Kiwi pacer Tim Southee as replacement for Pat Cummins for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season.

    Ahead of the resumption of the IPL 2021 in the United Arab Emirates on September 19, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Punjab Kings (PBKS), and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have also announced replacements in their respective squads for the remainder of the season.

    RCB has brought in Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga as a replacement for Australia’s Adam Zampa. In the recent three-match T20I series against India in Sri Lanka, Hasaranga bagged a total of 7 wickets, including a 4-wicket haul in the final T20I.

    Other replacements for RCB are Dushmantha Chameera for Daniel Sams, left-arm quick George Garton for Kane Richardson, and Tim David for New Zealand’s Finn Allen.

    Meanwhile, RR has brought in New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Glenn Phillips as a replacement for England’s Jofra Archer. Phillips has so far played 25 T20Is and has 506 runs against his name. He has scored a hundred and 2 half-centuries and has a strike rate of 149.70. South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi will replace Andrew Tye in the Rajasthan Royals squad.

    PBKS has signed Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis for Riley Meredith. Ellis recently was in the limelight following his hat-trick on his international debut against Bangladesh earlier this month. The right-arm pacer is also one of the reserve players in Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup squad. PBKS also picked England leg-spinner Adil Rashid to replace Jhye Richardson.

  • KKR vs RR Preview, IPL 2021: Kolkata hope to revive campaign against beleaguered Royals

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Bolstered by Pat Cummins’ late blitz against Chennai Super Kings, a pumped-up Kolkata Knight Riders will finally look to bring their campaign back on track after a hattrick of defeats when they face a beleaguered Rajasthan Royals in their IPL clash here on Saturday.

    Big on paper, KKR, led by England’s World Cup winning skipper Eoin Morgan, have so far failed to come together as a unit and slipped to sixth in the table after starting the tournament on a high against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

    Facing bottom-placed Rajasthan Royals, who have been the most inconsistent team so far in the season, KKR will be desperate for a turnaround.

    The rise of Pat Cummins as a batsman in their 18-run defeat to CSK will provide a big boost but it can’t paper over the failure of their star batsmen, who have floundered even while chasing even modest target.

    The seamers too have leaked runs in the death overs.

    Having struggled on Chepauk’s slow surface, KKR had hoped to return to winning ways at the Wankhede but Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad took their attack to the cleaners and amassed a massive 220 for 3 in their previous match.

    If that was not all, their famed top-five, including Shubman Gill and Morgan, surrendered inside the Powerplay.

    ALSO READ | IPL 2021: Need to be honest with ourselves and come back better, says RR skipper Sanju Samson

    Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik then revived the chase before Cummins produced some sensational powerhitting, slamming a 34-ball 66 not out before running out of partners as KKR finished on 202 after being 31/5 in 5.2 overs.

    “Everyone’s pumped. I am sure if we get a win or two and we will be on our way and flying. I think there’s a feeling that we can win from basically anywhere,” Cummins had said.

    The other positive has been Russell’s return to form.

    It was his 54 off 22 balls that had set the tone and it would not be a bad ploy for Morgan to promote the Jamaican up in the order, while Cummins provides late blitz.

    The skipper will himself look to get back among runs, while he will be equally concerned about Gill, who once again failed to convert his starts and he returned with a golden duck against CSK.

    Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, are coming into the match after a humiliating 10-wicket loss against RCB.

    Sanju Samson’s men have failed to inspire after posting their only win of the tournament, against Delhi Capitals in their second match.

    Samson has fizzled out after a blazing 119 against Punjab Kings and the top and middle-order look brittle with Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra and David Miller enduring poor form.

    Bowling is also a big concern for the inaugural edition champions as their big buy Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman have struggled to check runs.

    They also have limited overseas options with Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes ruled out because of injuries, while Liam Livingstone have left citing bio-bubble fatigue.

    Squads:

    Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra, Anuj Rawat, Riyan Parag, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Kuldip Yadav and Akash Singh.

    Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Harbhajan Singh, Karun Nair, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer and Pawan Negi.

    Match starts: 7.30 pm IST.

  • It’s a matter of time before something comes together: Eoin Morgan on his poor form

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: His poor run of scores notwithstanding, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan remains unfazed and says it’s a “matter of time” before he fires in the ongoing IPL.

    After their 18-run loss against Chennai Super Kings here on Wednesday, the World Cup-winning captain’s sequence of scores this season read 2, 7, 29 and 7.

    “It’s everything’s about the process. The way I’m going about things at the moment is extremely positive. I’ve been here a long time now and I’ve been practising well and it’s a matter of time before something comes together,” he said at the post-match press conference.

    KKR have got a vaunted batting line-up, but it has faltered in three matches so far in the league, even though the team came close against CSK.

    In the high-scoring game, CSK posted 220/3 in 20 overs and then managed to bowl out KKR for 202, after Morgan’s team was reeling at 31 for five inside the powerplay.

    “We have a very deep batting line-up, and it’s one of our strengths and we are very experienced in that middle and lower middle-order, and today we saw that.”

    A fine rally, led by Andre Russell, Pat Cummins and Dinesh Karthik, helped KKR go past 200 but not the stiff victory target of 221.

    Morgan said he is proud of the strong comeback by his team.

    “We have to be proud of getting so close, and actually putting ourselves in a winning position. Particularly, Pat Cummins towards the end played beautiful,” Morgan said.

    “It really did flip things right in our favour, but obviously, having made those five mistakes earlier did cost us.”

    For KKR, the change of venue did not change their fortunes as their bowlers leaked plenty of runs after Morgan opted to field.

    Morgan had made two changes in his bowling attack, bringing in rookie pacer Kamalesh Nagarkoti in place of Harbhajan Singh, while Sunil Narine played his first game of the season replacing Shakib-Al-Hasan.

    While Narine returned figures of 1/34 from his four overs, Nagarkoti conceded 25 runs from his two overs.

    But it was their star pacer Cummins who was the most expensive among the lot as the Aussie gave away 58 runs from his four overs, while Russell’s two overs went for 27 runs with one wicket at the death.

    But Morgan said the bowlers did a reasonable job.

    “I think today, upon reflection after both sides have been batted, they did a reasonable job. When you look at the position that we were in from the powerplay onwards, and only falling 20 runs short.

    “You don’t have to be an optimist to think that we would have been in a good position if we had batted better at the top of the order,” he signed off.

  • AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell power RCB to 204/4 against KKR

    By PTI
    CHENNAI: AB de Villiers’ master class and Glenn Maxwell’s counter-attacking half-century propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to an imposing 204 for four against Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL match, here on Sunday.

    RCB scored 56 runs in the last three overs, including 21 in the final six deliveries, to set KKR a stiff target after electing to bat.

    De Villiers blazed away to 76 off 34 balls with the help of nine fours and three sixes, while Maxwell made 78 off 49.

    The Australian too hit nine boundaries and three sixes.

    The Knight Riders were off to a brilliant start with leg-break bowler Varun Chakravarthy leaving RCB in early trouble at 9/2 with the big wickets of skipper Virat Kohli (5) and Rajat Patidar (1) in the second over.

    Opening the bowling for KKR, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh bowled a tight line and length to stifle the RCB batsmen in his first two overs.

    After Chakravarthy lured Kohli to go over cover with a tossed-up delivery that drifted away from the right-hander, Rahul Tripathi pulled off a sensational catch running back from extra-cover.

    The top batsman was nowhere close to the ball.

    Chakravarthy then went through the defence of Patidar with one that darted back on landing.

    Mixing aggression with caution, Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal (25) revived the RCB innings after the early blows at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

    While the young Indian seemed content playing the second fiddle, the swashbuckling Australian counter-attacked in fine fashion and played the big shots with consummate ease.

    The in-form Maxwell upped the ante when he cleared his front leg to plonk Shakib Al Hasan over long-on for his first maximum in the sixth over.

    The one bowled by Shakib turned out to be a productive over for RCB as they got 17 runs off it.

    After reaching 45 for two at the end of the six powerplay overs, Maxwell shifted gears and raced to his half-century in just 28 balls.

    Even Chakravarthy, who was on fire some time ago, was not spared by Maxwell as he smashed him for a six and four off successive balls.

    Prasidh Krishna ended the third-wicket partnership of 86 runs by sending back Padikkal, which signalled the arrival of De Villiers in the middle.

    Joining forces, the dazzling duo of Maxwell and De Villiers did not allow the KKR bowlers to settle into any sort of rhythm until premier pacer Pat Cummins ended their 53-run association.

    After that, the show belonged to De Villiers as he toyed with KKR bowlers.

  • Trying to get guys to free up in our side: Kolkata Knight Riders coach Brendon McCullum

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coach Brendon McCullum on Sunday said that as the coach of the franchise, he is trying to get all the players in his side to free up a bit and fully express themselves.

    His remarks came ahead of the start of KKR’s game against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

    “Coaching has been good. Obviously that century in IPL’s first ever game was a long time ago and my playing days are long done. Grateful for the opportunities I have had and some of the memories I have been able to create. It is the next stage of my life, as a coach, and it has been good. Trying to get the guys to free up a bit, giving them some of the experiences that I have had. It is a group of diverse cultures and the aim is to create a common goal,” McCullum told host broadcaster Star Sports.

    “One of the things of batting on this pitch is to stay in the present. It means that the assessment of what you need to do at that point becomes easier. I try and instill belief in the guys. We have largely had the same set of players we had last year with some minor additions. They all get on well together, with each other and the support staff. We also ensured that the players spent time with their loved ones prior to the tournament because in these times, they will need that support. Bubble life can be tough,” he added.

    Kohli-led RCB won the toss and opted to bat against KKR. RCB made one change to their lineup as the side brought in Rajat Patidar in place of Daniel Christian. On the other hand, KKR did not make any change to their playing XI from the last game.

    RCB has won both its opening two games this season while KKR has managed to win one game and lose another.

    KKR Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna.

    RCB Playing XI: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), Shahbaz Ahmed, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.

  • Royal Challengers Bangalore win toss, opt to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday won the toss and opted to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

    At the time of the toss, RCB skipper Kohli said: “We will bat first, the pitch will become slower and slower as the game goes on, but this surface looks better, want to put up a decent total player. We are playing three overseas players – Dan Christian misses out, Rajat Patidar is in. We just want to do a professional job, do the process right, take one game at a time and enjoy -keep calm under pressure.”

    RCB made one change to their lineup as the side brought in Rajat Patidar in place of Daniel Christian. On the other hand, KKR did not make any change to their playing XI from the last game.

    RCB has won both its opening two games this season while KKR has managed to win one game and lose another.

    KKR Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

    RCB Playing XI: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), Shahbaz Ahmed, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal