Delhi lose openrs with 41 needed

Toss Kolkata Knight Riders 97 for 9 (Shukla 26, M Morkel 3-18) v Delhi Daredevils
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Manoj Tiwary has travelled around the world with the Indian team recently without getting a game. And when he finally got one today, for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he lasted one ball. A packed Eden Gardens had waited and waited for the rain to relent. When the 12-overs-a-side game finally got underway after a delay of two-and-a-half hours, the home team Kolkata Knight Riders crumbled instantly.

By the end of the fourth over, they had lost four wickets, and six by the end of the seventh. Morne Morkel was responsible for three of those strikes, including the wickets of Jacques Kallis and Tiwary off consecutive deliveries.

The crowd eventually found their voice when Bengal boys Debabrata Das and Laxmi Shukla hit the Delhi Daredevils spinners for a few sixes. The blows also ensured Knight Riders ended up with a decent score after having been reduced to 55 for 6.

Things had looked worse for Knight Riders at 31 for 4. Brendon McCullum missed a pull off Roelof van der Merwe to be caught plumb in front in the second over. Morkel came on in the third and uprooted Kallis' middle stump with a stinging yorker. Tiwary went back in his crease and conspired to convert a very low full toss into a yorker. Bowled again.

Yusuf Pathan lasted three more deliveries than Tiwary had. Off his fourth, he tried to duck under a not-so-short ball from Umesh Yadav but only managed to glove it awkwardly to the wicketkeeper. Knight Riders' troubles only increased when Gautam Gambhir chopped an attempted guide to third man off a short Morkel delivery onto his stumps.

Knight Riders were in danger of getting bowled out in an innings of 12 overs, but Shukla and Das went after the spinners. Shukla, who played three ODIs for India in 1999, had cracked an unbeaten century last month to help Bengal beat heavyweights Mumbai for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

He lofted van der Merwe over long-off and deposited Shahbaz Nadeem over deep midwicket. Das had started the fightback earlier with a straight six off Morkel and the home fans now had reason to stay on for the chase. 

source:espncricinfo