KKR defeats the defending champions in the opener

Sidelights

Finally the wait was over. The 7^th edition of the Indian Premier league took off in Abu Dhabi and with an all round decent performance by the Kolkata Knight Riders made them victorious against the defending champions Mumbai Indians. The veteran batsman Jacques Kallis and the tricky spinner Sunil Narine are to be named as the pillars of the first victory by KKR this season. With decent support by Manish Pandey KKR could manage 162 which was a must on a pitch which was slow and low. MI could not match the pace of the wicket and with Michael Hussey giving a slow start all was almost ended for MI in the first few overs itself.

IPL 7 | Match 1 | MI Vs KKR

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Toss: KKR and elected to bat first

Playing XIs:

KKR: Gautam Gambhir, Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, R Vinay Kumar, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel

MI: Michael Hussey, Aditya Tare, Ambaty Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Corey Anderson, Harbhajan Singh, CM Gautam, Lasith Malinga, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha

Mini Score Card

KKR 163/5 (20) Run rate: 8.15

Jacques Kallis 72 (46) | Lasith Malinga 4/23 (4)

Manish Pandey 64 (53) | Zaheer Khan 1/23 (4)

MI 122/7 (20) Run rate: 6.10

Ambaty Rayudu 48 (48) | Sunil Narine 4/20 (4)

Rohit Sharma 27 (20) | Morne Morkel 1/16 (4)

Result: KKR won by 41 runs

Points: KKR 2 | MI 0

Man of the match: Jacques Kallis (KKR)

Umpires: Marais Erasmus | Richard Illingworth | Billy Bowden (TV) | K Srinath (Reserve)

Match Referee: Andy Pycroft

How they played the game

Powerplay: KKR 31 runs, 1 wicket | MI 32 runs, 1 wicket

First 50 runs: KKR 52 balls | MI 56 balls

50-100 runs: KKR 36 balls | MI 35 balls

100-150 runs: KKR 27 balls | MI 122/7 in 20 overs

Best Partnership

KKR – 2^nd Wicket between Jacques Kallis (61 runs from 39 balls) and Manish Pandey (64 runs from 53 balls)

MI – 3^rd Wicket between Ambaty Rayudu (30 runs from 25 balls) and Rohit Sharma (27 runs from 20 balls)

Fours and SIXES

KKR – 14 Fours (6 by Pandey, 5 by Kallis and 3 by Yadav) | 5 SIXES (3 by Kallis and 2 by Pandey)

MI – 7 Fours (4 by Rayudu, 2 by Tare and 1 by Gautam) | 2 SIXES (One each by Tare and Sharma)

Important fact about the match:

• Sunil Narine became the fastest bowler to achieve 50 wickets in the IPL.

In the pic: Jacques Kallis sweeps

Pic Courtesy: ESPN-Cricinfo