Brad ‘Hoggs’ the limelight at Eden Gardens : Age is only a number Its only shows the chronological advancement of a person AND does not ‘have a call’ on the inherent talent of a person.
This was amply proved by the 45 years and 65 days old (young) left-arm ‘chinaman’ specialist, Australian Brad Hogg, who literally ‘hogged the limelight’ at Eden Gardens, when the hosts Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) locked horns with a new-look, Zaheer Khan led Delhi Daredevils (DD), in their tournament opener.
Opting to bowl, KKR bowlers, especially Andre Russell (3-0-24-3) and Brad Hogg (4-1-19-3) were successful in restricting DD to a paltry score of 98 runs in 17.4 overs.
Only four batsmen, Quinton de Kock (17), Sanju Samson (15), Pawan Negi (11) and Chris Morris (11) could reach the double digit.
Coming in with a huge reputation of scoring and doing well in the domestic circuit, Mayank Agarwal (9), Shreyas Iyer (0) and Karun Nair (3), virtually had no answer to the KKR bowling attack.
Hogg accounted for Samson, Negi and Amit Mishra, while Russell had the better of the top three batsmen, Mayank Agarwal, Quinton de Kock and Shreyas Iyer.
Piyush Chawla and John Hastings also joined the party, picking up 2 wickets each.
Chasing 99 for a win, KKR’s established openers, wicket-keeper Robin Uthappa and the skipper Gautam Gambhir, wasted no time and got off to a flying start. The duo put together 69 runs in 9.4 overs for the first wicket.
After scoring a quickfire 35 runs off 33 deliveries with 7 fours at a strike rate of 106.06, Uthappa was dismissed by Amit Mishra, caught by Chris Morris.
However, Gambhir ensured no further damage was done as he alongwith Manish Pandey (15*) ensured that target was reached with 35 deliveries to spare.
Gambhir’s unbeaten 38* came in 41 deliveries with 5 fours.
DD skipper, Zaheer Khan returning to competitive cricket post his retirement, went for 24 runs in his 2.1 over spell.
Winning the game, KKR are off to a great start in the tournament.
Andre Russell was awarded the Player of the Match.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, he said, “We just have to adjust to any surface. That is where professionalism comes into play. It wasn”t the fastest of wickets, it wasn”t slow either. If I get a chance to bat, I”d go out there and do something destructive. When things are going your way, you need to find ways to stay up there. I thought the wicket wouldn”t spin that much, but credit to Brad Hogg and Piyush Chawla for backing me up. Well played to captain and Uthappa as well.”
Disappointed DD skipper, Zaheer Khan said, “You learn every day. I was trying to swing the ball too much. I was playing after a long time. I was happy to see the effort of the fast bowlers. Every team is going to have one bad game, hopefully we”ve got that out of the way. We”re just giving our young batting line-up freedom. They are quick learners, they”ve got the energy. We are happy with our plans and preparation. It”s just about letting this team express themselves on the field freely”.
An ecstatic Gautam Gambir, skipper KKR said, “We were very professional. Russell got to Kolkata this morning. The way he started with the ball was commendable. He is a quality player. Once we restricted them to 98, it was half the job done. We aren”t used to playing on these kind of wickets, that is why we decided to bowl first. In our chase, someone had to bat through. That is what professional teams do. It was my responsibility to do that. Robin was unbelievable, to give us that kind of start was fantastic. We”ve covered most of our bases, so we are happy with whatever surfaces we get.”