An off color, hi-flying KXIP falls to KKR’s consistency

In match 34 of Pepsi IPL 2014 KKR Captain Gautam Gambhir again got his team a win against table toppers KXIP who had nothing working for them. Gambhir’s consistent batting gave his team a win in the Barabati stadium in Cuttack that is vital for their bare survuival. KKR did everything correct while KXIP had an off day. KKR’s thumping win over in form KXIP by nine wickets with 12 balls to spare was indeed a message to all teams as to how consistency pays off. Gautam claimed his consecutive man of the match award as he made a sterling unbeaten 63. KKr bowlers Piyush Chawla got three wickets while giving away 19 runs fom his four overs while Sunil Narine got 2 for 20 runs in his 4 overs. KKR bowlers did well to contain the hard hitting and dangerous KXIP batsmen to 149 for eight from their 20 overs. Upon winning the toss Gambhir put KXIP to bat and Virender Sehwag exhibiting his class got 17 of the first over by Jacques Kallis. Mandeep Singh who partnered Sehwag was out without scoring in the second over off the bowling of Morne Morkel. Then a confident Wriddhiman Saha scored a fluent 15 before being dismissed by Morkel in the sixth over. At 48 for two the stage was set for the most awaited batsman of Pepsi IPL 7 to take over and Glenn Maxwell walked in. Maxwell could not flourish while Sehwag made hay at the other end. Piyush Chawla then claimed the big wicket of Maxwell on 14 in the 11th over and then bowled Sehwag on 72 that came in 50 balls including eleven fours and a maximum. David Miller went for 13 as Umesh Yadav cleaned him up in the 16th over to leave KXIP on 120 for five. Then Rishi Dhawan left for 4, Mitchell Johnson on 14 and Akshar Patel was run out while George Bailey remained unbeaten on 12. Robin Uthappa and Gambhir started the KKR innings very sensibly always maintaining a run-rate of close to nine per over as a result KKR’s 50 came in the sixth over. Uthappa again fell short of his half-cenrury by 4 as he got out on 46 from 28 balls. Pandey, 36 not out and his captain not only brought up KKR’s 100 in the 12th over but also with their 82 run unbroken stand registered a massive nine-wicket with a full two overs to spare over...

Superb KXIP brush off RCB in match 31

KXIP added another win to their incredible streak in Pepsi IPL 2014 by defeating RCB by 32 runs in match 31. RCB had won the toss and asked KXIP to take first strike. Virender Sehwag and Mandeep Singh commenced things fluently to echo that KXIP were around. The team’s 50 came in the sixth over. Mandeep Singh on 21 was the first KXIP wicket to fall off the bowling off Harshal Patel with the KXIP score on 60. Glenn Maxwell announced his arrival with a boundary. It was the arrival of Yuzvendra Chahal of RCB that brought his team back into the game. First Yuzvendra Chahal claimed the precious wicket of Sehwag on 30 and then the prize wicket of Maxwell who could only manage 25 in 11 balls when Mitchell Starc caught him on the mid-wicket fence. KXIP skipper George Bailey walked in with the scorecard reading 93 for three in 8.5 overs. The KXIP 100 then came up in the 10th over. Bailey left on 1 soon on a beauty from Albie Morkel. Miller reminded the crowd that he was around and smashed all over the ground to get 66 in 29 balls including 8 fours and three sixes. Wriddhiman Saha scored 26 runs off a Harshal Patel over, the 16th of the innings. KXIP posted a mountainous 198 for eight. Then it was KXIP bowler Sandeep Sharma’s figures of 4-0-25-3 that defeated the solid RCB batting line-up to restrict them to 166 for nine to claim the man of the match award. The RCB innings began with Parthiv Patel and Chris Gayle. Gayle left on 4 dismissed by Sandeep Sharma in the third over. And off the very next delivery, the KXIP pacer got rid of Virat Kohli on a duck leaving RCB in tatters on eight for two in 2.2 overs. Sachin Rana and Parthiv Patel struck out in the middle. But Sandeep Sharma struck again to get rid of Patel in the sixth over. Rana was (18) bowled by Akshar Patel in the seventh over. Then the entire responsibility of ensuring a win for their team came up on Yuvraj Singh and de Villers. But the experienced duo could only add 11 runs off 16 balls, before KXIP struck again. Shivam Sharma of KXIP first had Yuvraj Singh on 3 caught in the slips and then had Morkel on 16 leaving RCB struggling at 76 for six in 11.1 overs. De Villiers had not given up as his team crumbled around him. He made...

Maxwell’s scintillating spell aides KXIP to net CSK again

Man of the match KXIP’s Glenn Maxwell scored a stupendous 90 off 38 balls in Cuttack that helped KXIP to set a colossal target of 231 for 4 to put match 29 beyond the reach of CSK. Ultimately the men in yellow of CSK succumbed to yield a 44 run victory for KXIP, their second over CSK in IPL 7. It has taken seven years of IPL for another favorite team for the crowds to emerge who are used to seeing this kind of charisma only from CSK. For CSK it hardly matters whether they bat first or last, whether they are facing a strong team or weak team and even if many of their players are not in great form, winning has virtually been their agenda at IPL. KXIP are now set to displace them as the new IPL favorites. Each match from the KXIP players has been a thumping win and leading the King’s brigade is none other than Glenn Maxwell, who is also the current Orange Cap holder of IPL 7, having amassed the most runs. Maxwell’s swinging willow left nothing out of his reach and with every incredible hit of his bat the ball simply disappeared over the ropes. KXIP batting first posted an insurmountable total of 231 for four in their 20 overs that could not be breached even by the best team in the IPL business CSK. CSK could only manage 187 for six with Maxwell being the leading factor for their loss. Virender Sehwag and Mandeep Singh stated the KXIP innings when CSK Captain put them to bat after having won the toss. The partnership yielded runs at a brisk pace due to Sehwag and ended swiftly as Mohit Sharma struck in the fifth over to get rid of Mandeep Singh on 3 leaving KXIP on 33 for one. Sehwag was dismissed on 30 comprising of 5 fours and a maximum by Ben Hilfenhaus in the sixth over. Glenn Maxwell and David Miller together unleashed the most glittering hitting after the KXIP innings steadied at 69 for two after 10 overs. The 12th over by R Ashwin yielded 21 runs also culminating in Maxwell’s half-century. The 13th over from Ishwar Pandey went for 18 runs. The 150 for KXIP came up in the 15th over. Then Dwayne Smith bowling the 16th over after having conceding 20 runs off his first five balls picked up Miller’s wicket on 47. The partnership for the third-wicket stand for KXIP was for a gigantic 135 runs...

KXI P crowned unconquerable in IPL 7’s UAE leg

The KXIP have at the completion of their UAE leg been unbeaten with five consecutive wins from five matches. KXIP skipper George Bailey has only praise for his team mates both bowlers and batsmen alike saying they have become a compact winning unit. He also added that their first leg of Pepsi IPL 7 held in UAE could not have been any better. Bailey said that initially the batsmen were winning matches while the bowlers were giving away runs but in the last couple of matches the bowlers have had a nice turn around and won matches for the team. Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Sehwag, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Mitchell Johnson, Rishi Dhawan and Sandeep Sharma have been the key players for KXIP. KXIP beat RCB on Monday, April 28, 2014 at a jam packed Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai by chasing down the unassuming target of 124 that RCB had set for them to procure a win by five wickets and seven balls to spare in match 18 of the Pepsi IPL 7. KXIP have been anointed the new heroes of Pepsi IPL 7 as they are the first to register eight consecutive victories in the Indian Premier League, overall, including last three wins of IPL 6. The team is also placed on top of the points table having accumulated 10 from their five matches. They now have a breather before they resume playing in India. KXIP won the toss and asked RCB to bat. Chris Gayle, 20 announced his arrival from the word go by striking out taking RCB to 21 in just 1.2 overs before being bowled by a splendid Sandeep Sharma delivery. It was the last flourish for RCB as none of its batsmen anchored to play a long innings. Virat Kohli was unfortunately given out, which he was not, on 4 from another Sandeep Sharma ball. The situation worsened for RCB as Yogesh Takawale left without scoring being caught behind by Wriddhiman Saha off Mitchell Johnson in the third over of the RCB innings. Parthiv Patel on 2 became Sandeep Sharma’s third victim leaving RCB at 26 for the loss of four wickets from 3.5 overs. All hopes were then pinned on Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers who steadied the innings with great shots all over the park for a 41 run stand. Then Rishi Dhawan dismissed de Villiers on 17 at the half way stage. Albie Morkel on 15 culd also not flourish as Lakshmipathy Balaji had him bowled leaving RCB totally lost...

KKR buckle under KXIP bowling

KXIP bowlers have shown that they have the mettle in them to successfully defend 132 as KXIP won against KKR on 26th April 2014 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. By winning match 15 of the Pepsi IPL 7 KXIP have won four of their consecutive encounters being the only unbeaten team as of yet. Earlier KKR won the toss and asked KXIP to bat first. Cheteshwar Pujara lost his wicket on 8 in the second over as he was run-out. Wriddhiman Saha joined Virender Sehwag was then trapped leg-before by Jacques Kallis. Glenn Maxwell the most awaited star batsmen strode out to accompany Sehwag and both were as expected hitting out at the KKR bowlers but Maxwell perished on 15 leaving all in the stadium shell shocked. It was as if the KXIP batsmen had a day off as David Miller made 14, Captain George Bailey, 11 and Sehwag, 37 left at whim to make it 101 for five. Then the next set of batsmen followed who were all submissive to the KKR spinners as they scalped Akshar Patel, 7, Mitchell Johnson, 0 and Lakshmipathy Balaji 0. For KKR both the spinners Mishra and Narine, bagged three wickets apiece and were the chief architects of KXIP’s collapse. KXIP were reduced to 132 for nine. Defending a modest 132 runs the KXIP bowlers led by Sandeep Sharma dismissed KKR for 109 to register a 23-run win in match 15 of Pepsi IPL 7. Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis opened for KKR but Pandey left on 8 as he was trapped leg-before in the third over by Sandeep Sharma. Gautam Gambhir just scrapped though the skin of his teeth from getting another duck against his name. he however looked completely lost as he swayed his willow to give an easy catch getting out after scoring one run. It was Sandeep Sharma gain who struck this vital blow to KKR. KKR were reduced to 19 for three and desperately needed to anchor their innings for a successful chase. Chris Lynn, 13, Robin Uthappa, 19, Yusuf Pathan, 3, Chawla, 0, Narine, 5 and Umesh, 2 all simply came and saw but left after they were conquered by the KXIP bowlers. Despite Suryakumar Yadav’s, 34 in 17 balls the seemingly inadequate target set up KXIP was out of KKR’s reach. KKR’s innings came to a close for 109 in 18.2 overs. For KXIP, Sharma took three wickets for 21 in his four overs. He was equally supported by Johnson and Patel, who...