IPL 7: Gambhir-Uthappa script Kolkata Knight Riders' crushing win over Delhi Daredevils

New Delhi Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front as his fantastic 69 helped Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable eightwicket victory over a hapless Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground todayChasing a modest 161 for victory Gambhir and Robin Uthappa 47 stitched together a 106run partnership to provide a perfect winning platform as Kolkata cantered to the target in 182 oversStarting on cautious note the duo gradually gained the momentum and punished the Delhi attack led by Mohammad ShamiGautam Gambhir during his matchwinning knockGambhir picked a sliding legside delivery from Laxmi Ratan Shukla for a six at midwicket region to make his intent clear in the fifth over of the innings as the southpaw got his second halfcentury of the seasonUthappa also showed his aggressive side against JeanPaul Duminy to come down against the South African offspinner and hit a huge six in the widish longon regionThe duo gained confidence with every passing delivery to demoralise the Delhi attack as skipper Kevin Pietersen kept juggling his bowling optionsSouth African leftarm pacer Wayne Parnell finally managed to deny Uthappa his fifty as the Karnataka batsman was caught behind for 47 off 34 deliveriesManish Pandey 23 not out then played the perfect supporting role to make sure that Kolkata do not repeat the Ahmedabad fiasco where the team lost six wickets for two runs eventually gifting the match to Rajasthan RoyalsOn a day when nothing worked for Delhi and everything went in Gambhirs favour the lefthander did survive a drop catch and an open run out He was finally caught behind while trying to pull a rising Parnell delivery as Dinesh Karthik gloved a beauty in the 18th overIt was left to Kallis 10 not out to complete the formalities With misfields galore the Delhi fielders did little to help their tiredlooking bowlersEarlier electing to bat on a hot and humid day Delhi posted a respectable 160 for five in 20 oversDuminy smacked 40 off 28 balls while Kedar Jadhav blasted 26 off 15 to manage a 55run unbeaten stand and provide the necessary impetus in the end Kolkata opened the bowling with offspinner Suryakumar Yadav with Kallis sharing the new ball Delhi Daredevils Dinesh Karthik and J P Duminy during their IPL 7 match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Wednesday Umesh Yadav drew first blood for Kolkata in the third over getting De Kock 10caught by Gautam Gambhir at midonPietersen 6 looked completely out of sorts in his short stay at the wicket and after being circumspect against the spinners the England batsman ran himself out while trying to take a needless runMurali Vijay 24 and Dinesh Karthik 36 then tried to stabilise the innings as KKR continued to juggle their bowling optionsThe duo added 31 runs for the thirdwicket as both the batsmen mixed the right dose of caution and aggression to give some momentum to the Delhi inningsTrying to push the scoring rate Vijay finally holed out a simple catch to Sunil Narine at long on as Kallis got his first wicketThe hardworking Karthik continued to put runs on board and gave Kallis a hard time as he hit the Proteas mediumpacer for a six and two fours in the 11th over Kallis though got his revenge when he caught the Delhi batsman in the very next over off Shakib al Hasan for 36The overambitious Karthik tried the paddle scoop again only to top edge the ball to short fine legLaxmi Ratan Shukla and JeanPaul Duminy did try to up the ante but clinical bowling from Umesh and R Vinay Kumar kept the batsmen in check even in the middle oversKolkatas spin ace Sunil Narine finally struck in the 16th over to clean up to end Shuklas agony for 10Laxmans exit though proved a blessing in disguise for Delhi as new man Kedar Jadhav smacked a four and a six against Vinay to provide some entertainment to the Kotla crowdDuminy and Jadhav entertained the crowd with fours and sixes as they managed to notch up a runrate of over 13 in the final four oversWith just 2 wins in 8 games Delhi will certainly find it hard to make it to the playoffs while Kolkata continue to live on hope prayers and more wins