Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir has made no pretence of the fact his side much prefers to chase down totals in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), and with in-form opener Robin Uthappa in his lineup, you can understand why.

Gambhir, as it turned out, called correctly at the toss on Tuesday and so wasted little time in inserting the more fancied Chennai Super Kings in front of 60,000 raucous fans at Eden Gardens in what was the first contest that the Knight Riders had played so far at the mecca of cricket in IPL 7.

And with two more matches still to come in the Bay of Bengal (as well as one knockout clash) and Uthappa in the form of his life, then Kolkata must now be considered a serious bet to repeat their 2012 IPL triumph in Bangalore on 1 June after the eight-wicket thrashing they handed out to MS Dhoni’s men.

However, no one in the ground would have been able to predict at the halfway stage that this contest would end anticlimactically with still two overs left to be bowled after Chennai had posted a seemingly competitive total of 154 for four.

Then again, given the run of form that both Kolkata as a team and Uthappa as an individual have been in of late, perhaps it was not that much of a surprise after all, with the franchise having now won their last five matches in a row and all when chasing too.

And it can be no coincidence either that their winning run started when the 28-year-old was moved up the order to open alongside his skipper, with the pair having since responded by registering two century and three half-century partnerships along the way, including a 64-run stand to get things going on Tuesday.

But it is Uthappa, though, who has been his team’s stand-out performer, with the right-hander seemingly in the form of his life in this shorter form of the game having compiled seven consecutive scores of 40 or more now in this year’s tournament.

In fact, it must now be at the stage where when the batsman walks out to the middle to open the innings he just expects to make runs, something Uthappa did right from the very first ball of Kolkata’s reply when he creamed Ben Hilfenhaus sweetly through the covers for four to get proceedings under way in style.

Sure, Uthappa enjoyed the odd bit of good fortune along the way after being dropped at first slip having made just six and 24, the first offering a real dolly that was shelled by the normally reliable Ravichandran Ashwin.

However, in between those let-offs the occasional India limited-overs international kept the home crowd royally entertained with an exhibition of batting on both sides of the wicket, although his cover driving off the front foot was particularly pleasing on the eye, and all while keeping so still and balanced at the crease.

And even when the Super Kings’ vast array of dangerous spinners were brought on to try and stem the flow of runs, the easy-on-the-eye Uthappa still continued to score at a healthy lick, with one lovely late jab off Ravindra Jadeja bringing up his half-century off only 29 deliveries.

Thanks to man-of-the-match Uthappa, the back of the run chase had been broken, with the Knight Riders posting their highest 10-over score of the competition as a result as they cruised to victory in the end, with their star man’s overall contribution being a hugely impressive 67 runs from just 39 balls, including 10 fours and a six at an eye-catching run-rate of 171.79.

And if Uthappa carries on in this rich vein of form, then surely a recall to the India Twenty20 international side for the first time in over two years will be just around the corner.

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Mumbai's hopes of retaining their Indian Premier League title are hanging by a thread after a six-wicket defeat to Kolkata in Cuttack.

The Indians suffered their seventh defeat in 10 games as the Knight Riders comfortably chased down 142 at the Barabati Stadium, thanks to Robin Uthappa.

Kolkata now have an even record of five wins and five losses and sit in the fourth and final play-off position with each team having four games remaining.

Match 40 of the 2014 season was moved away from Eden Gardens to a neutral venue due to the ongoing Indian elections. 

Kolkata won the toss and chose to field, restricting Mumbai to 37-2 in the powerplay who were thankful for contributions from Ambati Rayudu (33) and captain Rohit Sharma (51).

However, their run rate was not explosive with Sharma dismissed in the final over after hitting four boundaries and two sixes in his 45-ball innings.

Kolkata's reply started brightly with an opening partnership of 50 in 41 balls before skipper Gautam Gambhir was bowled by Harbhajan Singh for 14.

The veteran spinner removed Manish Pandey for the same score, but Uthappa maintained his prolific form.

The opener hit a career-best 80 from 51 balls before being bowled by Lendl Simmons.

His wicket left KKR needing 26 runs needed from the final four overs, and Yusuf Pathan, in his 100th IPL match, hit the winning boundary with eight balls remaining.

Kolkata return to action at Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday with Mumbai visiting Rajasthan Royals a day later.

A year ago, Robin Uthappa, playing for the now-defunct Pune Warriors, was a speck in the background as Royal Challengers Bangalore's powerhouse batsman Chris Gayle pummeled his team into submission with a record-breaking 175 not out.

Uthappa himself wasn't doing too badly and was a handy player at the top of the order for Pune, providing them with aggressive starts. He ended the season as the 12th-highest runscorer, with 434 runs in 16 matches at 27.12. Inconsistency and a visibly unfit body had ensured he remained far away from the spotlight.

A year later, a lot has changed for Uthappa.

On Sunday, Kolkata broke into the top four following a facile nine-wicket win over table-toppers Kings XI Punjab. The 2012 champions at one point had lost four games on the trot and were down in the doldrums, but successive wins over the Delhi Daredevils and Punjab meant that they have clawed their way back into reckoning for the knockouts.

Much of the credit for KKR's late boost up the table has been given to skipper Gautam Gambhir, who has now recorded three consecutive fifties after starting the season with three successive ducks. Sunil Narine is also among the leading wicket-takers of the season.

But what about Uthappa? What has he been doing?

A lot, now that you ask.

Halfway through the current season, the Karnataka batsman has already tallied 302 runs in nine matches at a healthier average of 33.55 for the Kolkata Knight Riders, including two half-centuries and three scores of 40-plus.

This season's Uthappa is a leaner, fitter, stronger and modified version of last year. He has shed about 20 kilograms and lost all the extra weight he had on his upper body.

The one thing that hasn't changed is his continued presence in the background. However, in this case, he is no speck. Not by a mile.

He has made changes to his batting style, most noticeably to his stance. The earlier closed and upright one is long gone. Uthappa now can be seen crouching lower at the point of delivery, which has made him a lot more flexible while going for his shots. 

Ever since this Uthappa 2.0 has been unleashed, he hasn't been able to stop scoring runs.

In his first competitive fixture following last year's IPL, he scored a triple-century playing for the Karnataka State Cricket Association XI in the local Safi Darashah Trophy.

He was then picked for the India A teams and the Board President's XI side that played against New Zealand A, West Indies A and Australia, in which he scored a century before a hamstring injury ruled him out of the domestic season for a while.

Uthappa's first game after his return from injury was the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy, India's premier first-class cricket tournament. Here, he rescued Karnataka from a precarious position against Uttar Pradesh with another determined century, which set up his team's win.

Karnataka went on to win the trophy.

Uthappa gives all the credit for his resurgence to Pravin Amre, a former India cricketer who is now into coaching. Uthappa hired Amre as a personal batting coach following last year's IPL. The results are there to see.

In a recent interview with Indian newspaper DNA's Taus Rizvi, Uthappa had the following to say about his new coach:

Choosing to work with Amre sir was my best decision. He is someone who practically helped me change my game, from where it used to be to where it is now. I am very grateful to him. He has worked hard with me and has been patient. I know him since my days with the junior Indian team. There is a certain comfort level which I don't share with anyone else. As his pupil, I have complete faith and trust in him. He gave me things on the platter and asked me to pick whatever I like the most, which is what I have done.

He sure has, what with his last few scores in the IPL reading 47, 65, 47 and 46, all at the top of the order, where he believes he delivers best.

KKR had experimented with him batting lower down to provide the team with late boosts in the death overs. However, ever since he first opened this season, against Chennai Super Kings, scoring 47, he has looked at home and extremely comfortable in his role.

Uthappa has shared two century partnerships with Gambhir already, along with another fifty-run stand on Sunday. He is the aggressor in the pairing, albeit quite different from the see-ball-hit-ball type last year.

Uthappa is now much more restrained in his shot-selection, but has still managed to maintain a healthy strike rate of over 125.

So then, why isn't he being given enough credit for it? Why has all the talk about a possible return to the Indian team been only associated with Gambhir?

Well, possibly because many people may have assumed that he's too old now since he's been there forever.

Here's some news for you: Uthappa is only 28.

It's true that he's been around forever, but he's been playing for India out of his under-19 days. His debut for the national team was in 2006, at the age of 20.

That being said, Uthappa last played for India in a rain-interrupted Twenty20 International against South Africa in March 2012. His last one-day international appearance was back in 2008. He is yet to play a Test.

However, if this Uthappa 2.0 continues with his prolific runscoring ways, there's no stopping him from barging into Team India. Until then, sit back and enjoy his lovely waltzes down the track and wonderfully classy drives.

Kolkata Knight Riders coasted to an eight-wicket victory at the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.

KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir led the way with 69 as the visitors snapped a four-match losing streak by chasing down 161 with 10 balls to spare.

Kevin Pietersen's side slipped to their sixth defeat in eight with the out-of-touch skipper making just six in his side's 160-5 at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Pietersen won the toss and chose to bat, but Delhi managed just 29 in the powerplay with the discarded England batsman involved in a disastrous run out with opener Murali Vijay.

Vijay made 24, while Dinesh Karthik contributed 36 before JP Duminy and Kedar Jadhav gave the tail end of the innings some vigour.

South African Duminy hit three sixes in making 40 from 28 balls while Jadhav added 26 from 15.

However, that total soon looked insufficient as Robin Uthappa and Gambhir put on 106 for the opening wicket in Kolkata's reply.

Uthappa went for 47 in the 12th over but Gambhir, who started the tournament with just one run from his first four innings, went on to complete his second consecutive half-century.

He hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 56-ball innings before becoming Wayne Parnell's second victim with his side just 10 runs short of their victory target.

However, Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey saw them over the line.

Kolkata join Royal Challengers Bangalore on six points in fourth place in the standings.

There was a time, not so long ago, when international batsmen were forced to concede that Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan was border on unhittable in limited-overs cricket.

An impeccable length and exquisite control complemented the off-spinner's dazzling variations to such an extent, that opposing teams reluctantly adopted an approach based on self-preservation against Muralitharan. Even the bullish and all-conquering Australians of the early 2000s looked elsewhere in the Sri Lankan attack for their targets.

It was, perhaps, the first instance of a slow bowler owning a vice-like grip over the frenetic pace of the modern limited-overs formats.

Three years on from Muralitharan's international retirement, Sunil Narine is following in the Sri Lankan's footsteps, bewildering opponents in a format that, just five years ago, was associated exclusively with high-impact, full-throttle performers.

Indeed, no player quite represents the dramatic shift that has occurred in Twenty20 cricket in recent seasons like Narine. His unorthodox action is symbolic of the times. His ability to turn the ball in both directions is considered the new benchmark in finger-spin bowling. His penchant for stifling opponents is unmatched.

In Narine, T20 bowling has its prototypical executant.

Never has that fact been on show to a greater extent than at the recent ICC World Twenty20. At a time when experienced T20 seamers like Umar Gul and Mitchell Starc were operating at economy rates above nine runs per over, the cool West Indian ran at a figure almost half of that, epitomising the game's shift.

In the ever-evolving T20 landscape, there's also a compellingly indomitable aura surrounding the deceptive 25-year-old. While his methods defy the principles of the West Indies' exalted past, there's a delightfully throwback feel to Narine's presence. Like the disposition that belonged to names such as Brian Lara, Richie Richardson and Carl Hooper, there's a burning fire within Narine that is hidden by a nonchalant exterior.

It's a blend that is weaving magic at present, with Narine following up an impressive campaign in Bangladesh with further stifling performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

April Performance Summary:

Standout Performance:

After a stellar World T20 tournament, Narine arrived at this season's IPL with arguably the most lofty status of any bowler in the competition. In an event based largely on reputations and exorbitant dollar figures, such a stature can burden a player in the heat of India's spotlight.

Any sign of that weight of expectation was non-existent in the West Indian's opening performance at the tournament, as the deceptive spinner claimed 4/20 from four overs to seal victory for the Kolkata Knight Riders over the reigning champion Mumbai Indians in the opening match of the competition.

Narine utilised his seemingly undetectable "carrom ball" to make the struggling Michael Hussey look rather foolish in the early stages, before doing much the same to Ambati Rayudu upon his return to the attack to have the right-hander easily stumped.

Those wickets were followed in quick succession by the scalps of Corey Anderson and Harbhajan Singh, both of whom were comprehensively undone by Narine's variations to leave the Mumbai batting line-up in disarray in its chase of Kolkata's 163-5.

Despite a vast collection of sublime spells across the duration of April, this was comfortably Narine's finest effort with the ball.

Outlook For May:

Narine will look to continue enforcing his stranglehold over the world's best T20 batsmen for the remainder of the IPL in May, as the Knight Riders look to reclaim the form that propelled the franchise to tournament glory in 2012—the year of Narine's arrival.

Having already quelled two of the three most explosive line-ups in the competition in Bangalore and Punjab, it seems unlikely that opposing batsmen are ready to decipher the West Indian's riddles, ensuring that Narine will remain a decisive figure in this year's event.

Perhaps only the extravagant Glenn Maxwell can prevent Narine from claiming a second IPL Man of the Series award in three seasons.

With both teams coming off victories in their latest matches, Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab face off in their next game in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Date: Saturday, April 26

Start time: 3:30 p.m. BST/6:30 p.m. local time

Live on: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), ITV4 (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN (UAE), SkyTV (New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omni (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore).

Weather: According to Weather.com, Abu Dhabi promises to be sunny and warm, with temperatures reaching 36 degrees Celsius.

Overview

After a stutter against the Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata got back on track against Royal Challengers Bangalore with a close win by two runs.

The Knight Riders batted first and made 150-7, thanks in large part to 45 from Chris Lynn and 43 from Jacques Kallis.

Their bowlers then just about managed to restrict Bangalore to 148-5 in reply, with Vinay Kumar leading the way with 2-26 from his four overs that included the final one.

Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab are the last IPL team left with a 100 percent winning record as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by the enormous margin of 72 runs.

Punjab batted first and mounted a staggering 193-6, with Glenn Maxwell once again dominating with a superb 95 from 43 deliveries.

In reply, Hyderabad were unable to provide much of a response and folded for 121, with Lakshmipathy Balaji taking 4-13 from four overs.

With both teams in winning form, this game is sure to be an exciting one.

Team News

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

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

Key Players

Chris Lynn

Showing himself to be immensely capable in the top order is Chris Lynn, who looks in impressive form already.

The young Australian will be hopeful of more success after a good start to the 2014 edition.

Glenn Maxwell

Seemingly on track already to win the award for the most IPL runs, Glenn Maxwell has started this year in excellent form.

He will be the wicket prized above all others by the Knight Riders.

Kolkata may have got out of jail in their riveting IPL clash with Bangalore, but they have to make a major decision about their captain Gautam Gambhir: Should he stay or should he go?

Despite overseeing two wins from their opening three games, their normally inspirational skipper has recorded an incredible hat-trick of ducks from his three innings so far, and his confidence is obviously at rock bottom.

And with the games coming thick and fast, how long can the Knight Riders persevere with their blatantly out-of-form star? Let's take a look at their options.

Stick

At $2.4 million, Gambhir was the highest-paid player in the 2011 auction, and despite losing his international place of late, the 32-year-old remains a potentially potent force at the top of the order.

It might just take one slice of luck to go his way for KKR to have a player who has scored nearly 4,000 T20 runs and once hit a 19-ball half-century back and firing on all cylinders.

Spin

Batting at the top of the order, when the pitch is hard and the shiny ball tends to swing, can be a torturous task for a player lacking in confidence.

Maybe dropping down into the middle order would allow Gambhir to regain his touch without the pressure of having to score immediate boundaries in order to get his side off to a flyer.

Fold

There's no room for sentiment in professional sport, and a man who has contributed zero runs with the bat despite occupying a prime position in the order is simply taking up space.

With the likes of Manvinder Bisla, who almost single-handedly won the 2012 final, and the ferocious Ryan ten Doeschate waiting in the ranks, KKR have alternative options.

Conclusion

Despite not scoring the runs he and his team expected, Gambhir has still overseen an impressive opening-day win against Mumbai and this slightly more fortuitous victory over RCB.

Surely it's only a matter of time before the former Indian opener finds his groove and starts to make some serious runs to aid Kolkata's push for a spot in the last four.

Royal Challengers Bangalore lost their unbeaten record in the 2014 Indian Premier League after a two-run defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders.

Bangalore, who won the toss and elected to field, restricted their opponents to 150-7 in their 20 overs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

They looked to be cruising to a third successive victory at 116-2 after 15 overs but fell short, with Chris Lynn taking a remarkable catch in the final over to prevent AB de Villiers from hitting a winning six.

Kolkata, the 2012 champions, had a terrible start. Captain Gautam Gambhir departed first ball to record his third consecutive duck in the tournament.

Manish Pandey went in the next over, but Jacques Kallis and young Australian Lynn put on 79 for the third wicket.

Lynn hit three sixes in his 45 from 31 balls before becoming the first of three victims for Varun Aaron, who removed Yusuf Pathan two balls later for zero.

South African veteran Kallis went with the score on 107 in the 16th over, the opener making 43 from 42 balls, but Suryakumar Yadav did his best to boost the total with an unbeaten 24.

In their reply, RCB openers Parthiv Patel and Yogesh Takawale put on 49 without loss in the powerplay.

Both Takawale (40 from 28 balls) and Patel (21 from 19) fell with the score on 78, but key men Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh picked up the mantle.

However, skipper Kohli and Yuvraj both departed for 31—off 23 and 33 balls, respectively—which left nine runs needed off the final over from Vinay Kumar.

After three singles, de Villiers looked like he had won it, only for Lynn to pluck the ball out of the air after slipping. Albie Morkel was unable to find the boundary from the final two balls.

RCB next face Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, while Kolkata meet Kings XI Punjab later that day.

The reigning champions of the Indian Premier League were defeated in dramatic fashion, as the Kolkata Knight Riders beat the Deccan Chargers by 11 runs to take the first match of the 2010 series.

The Chargers appeared to be in complete control, as Adam Gilchrist scored his ninth 50 of the IPL off just 31 balls, but fell just four balls later, and their innings steadily imploded.

Wickets were shared evenly amongst the Knight Riders' bowlers, and they will be delighted with the first victory of the series against the reigning champions.

The real heroes for the Knight Riders came in the shape of Angelo Mathews and England's Owais Shah, who is only playing because he has not been selected for his country.

Two wickets in the first over made life extremely difficult for the Knight Riders, and their scorecard looked even worse four later, with the score at 31-4 after just five overs.

It appeared that the Chargers' early burst of wickets would set them up for their first win in their new home ground, but Shah and Mathews teed off to score at a rate of over 100—Shah scoring 58 of 46 balls, and Mathews making 65 from the same amount.

Seven 6s were shared between the partnership, who smashed the bowlers around the ground to set a defendable target of 161...although it looked extremely attainable when Gibbs and Gilchrist were at the crease.

The big-hitting pair were cruising at 99-1 after 11 overs, and it seemed that they would easily make the target with several overs to spare.

But after Brad Hodge made the breakthrough against his former international teammate, Gilchrist, and Gibbs was caught at long on off Langeveldt, the Chargers never recovered, and victory for the Knight Riders arrived in sensational fashion.

The IPL is expected to create matches of high tension, big hitting, and unpredictable outcomes. If the first match is anything to go by, we are in for a hell of a tournament.