Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa put on another wonderful century partnership, but there was no collapse, which made the stock market crash of 1929 look like a mere blip, this time around to follow that great start, as the Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to a eight-wicket victory over the Delhi Daredevils, who crashed to their third straight defeat at home in IPL 2014.
Choosing to bat first, the Daredevils jumped their way to 160 for five, thanks largely to some brilliant final overs hitting from JP Duminy and Kedar Jadhav, but DD's failings with the ball continued to hold court, as Gambhir (69, 56b, 5x4, 2x6) and Uthappa (47, 34b, 5x4, 1x6) set the game up with a big partnership, before the skipper saw them to the brink of victory as KKR finished on 161 for two in 18.2 overs.
The Knight Riders, who had lost their last four games, picked up a much-required third victory from their eighth match this season, while the Daredevils crashed to their sixth defeat in eight, with a playoff appearance in IPL 2014 looking as unlikely as a snowy day in Delhi.
The last game when Gambhir and Uthappa put on a century partnership it did not go so well, but there was no way KKR were going to throw away the game a second time in two days, with the openers pretty much taking the game away from DD with a brilliant alliance of 106 runs.
Both batsmen looked comfortable against the not-so-penetrative-attack of the Daredevils, notwithstanding some seriously iffy running, with Uthappa taking charge early on, before Gambhir caught up with his partner as the overs wound down.
The first six Powerplay overs yielded 52 runs, with the duo taking KKR to 90 at the halfway mark of the innings with easy peasy boundaries as the DD bowlers, who have struggled ever since losing Nathan Coulter-Nile to injury, struggled to ruffle even a little feather of the two batsmen.
The wicket finally came in the 12th over, with Wayne Parnell getting an lbw decision to dismiss Robin Uthappa, but with KKR needing just 55 from the remaining 8.1 overs, even a collapse of six for two proportions was not going to trouble them.
Gambhir, playing at his home ground, and Manish Pandey put on 45 in 33 balls, before the KKR skipper fell to Parnell (two for 21), with Karthik, who had dropped a sitter which would have dismissed Gambhir early on, taking a brilliant one-handed catch. However, KKR only needed 10 from 16 deliveries at that point, with Pandey (23, 14b, 2x4, 0x6) and Jacques Kallis (10, 6b, 1x4) seeing them through.
The first innings was all about the finishing prowess of JP Duminy and Kedar Jadhav, with the duo packing some serious punch in the final four overs to take DD to 160.
There was no fast start or brilliant middle from the Delhi Daredevils, with Quinton De Kock, who has been impressive without really lighting up the IPL, falling first, lobbing one to Gambhir at mid-on off Umesh Yadav, who for once did not got for a boundary every few deliveries, finishing with good figures of 4-0-26-1.
Pietersen has been quite disappointing this season, with the DD captain unable to unleash that ridiculous powers of his on IPL 2014, and fans of the right-hander were made to wait for another game at least before seeing KP at his best, with the batsman lasting just six deliveries, running himself out in head-shaking what-was-I-thinking fashion.
From 29 for two, Murali Vijay (24, 20b, 2x4, 1x6) and Dinesh Karthik took DD to 61 with a quickfire partnership of 35 from 3.3 overs, before the former holed out in the deep looking for another big boundary.
Karthik continued to attack the KKR bowlers, pumping Kallis for a six and two fours in one over to put DD in a strong position heading into the second half of the innings. However, the assault was cut short by Shakib Al Hasan, who finished with brilliant figures of 4-0-13-1, with Karthik top-edging one to Kallis at short fine leg while looking for a thwack over deep square.
At 85 for four in 12 overs, DD were in a tricky position, and it only got a little trickier with Laxmi Ratan Shukla playing out 14 deliveries for his 10, before being castled by Sunil Narine, who made the batsman look like a fish out of water playing his mystery spin.
Narine's success, though, would end there with Duminy (40, 28b, 0x4, 3x6) and Jadhav (26, 15b, 3x4, 1x6) putting on 55 from just 25 deliveries to take the Daredevils from a possible score of around 140 to a maybe-we-can-defend-this total of 160, which proved to be a no-we-don't-have-a-prayer target as KKR romped home.
