Kolkata thrash Delhi by eight wickets in IPL

Opener Gambhir’s half-century helps team register important win.

Former champions Kolkata Knight Riders recovered from the heartbreak against Rajasthan Royals to steamroll Delhi Daredevils by eight wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Delhi.

Batting first, the hosts made a fighting score of 160 for five in the allotted 20 overs, but a dazzling half-century by Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir against his former team set the tone for a comfortable chase.

Gambhir and fellow opener Robin Uthappa (47) added 106 runs for the opening wicket, which was their second consecutive century-plus stand at the top of the order and the rest of the batsmen ensured a comfortable win in the penultimate over of the innings.

Manish Pandey’s 23 off 14 eased the team to the target in company of veteran Jacques Kallis (10).

For Delhi, JP Duminy top-scored with 40 off 28 balls, his innings punctuated with three sixes. Dinesh Karthik chipped in with a valuable 36-run knock to ensure a sizeable score for his team. Kolkata’s left-arm spinner Shakibal Hasan returned figures of one for 13 off his four overs.

Starc and Powell fined for altercation

Bangalore’s Mitchell Starc and Mumbai’s Kieron Pollard have been fined for their heated altercation during the match between the two teams at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.

Pollard lost 75% of his match fee while Starc was penalised 50% by match referee Andy Pycroft, according to ESPN.

Pollard was charged for “throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at or near a player, team official, umpire, match referee or any other third person in an inappropriate manner during a match.”

Starc was charged for bringing the game into disrepute during the heated clash where both players had threatened to physically assault each other.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2014.

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