Kolkata Knight Riders played an immaculate game in their opening encounter of IPL 7 against the Mumbai Indians. Come Saturday night, they will look for another perfect match when they take on the Delhi Daredevils, desperate to bounce back from a heavy defeat suffered at the hands of RCB.
Get the report HERE
Watch the highlights of KKR vs DD HERE
Where to Watch Live:
The game is scheduled for a 6.30 pm local time (8 pm IST, 3.30 pm GMT, 10.30 am ET) start with live coverage on Sony Max and Sony Six in India. Catch the action via online live streaming in India HERE or HERE. Rest of the world can catch the IPL action HERE, HERE or through the GoCricket apps. Viewers in the US can live stream the action HERE, while audience in Canada can do the same HERE.
Viewers in the UK can catch the action live on ITV, while Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will have coverage via Geo Super, Maasaranga TV and Carlton Sports Network respectively. Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa can catch the action on OSN and with the link HERE, while New Zealand viewers can do the same through Sky NZ HERE.
KKR, riding on a brilliant half-century from the peerless Jacques Kallis, posted a total over 160 against the Mumbai Indians, before their potent bowlers restricted the defending IPL champions to just 122.
"The positive about this team is that everyone enjoys each other's company and wants every team member to do well," KKR bowling coach Wasim Akram said. "There are no sulkers in the team, which is great."
Kolkata have arguably the best bowling lineup in the IPL, with Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and R Vinay Kumar bolstering their pace resources as Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Piyush Chawla take up the spin mantle. If their batsmen can keep firing, the KKR owners can sit back happily and watch their team pick up victories consistently.
"I am proud of the bowling attack and my job is much easier," Akram said. "Every bowler in this squad is different. We have Vinay Kumar who varies his pace. We have Morne Morkel who bowls 150-plus kph and is unplayable.
"People like Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla are quality bowlers. We have variety in our bowling and by variety I mean wicket-taking bowlers. In T20 what matters is wickets. You take wickets, you can block the opposition and that is what we did when Mumbai Indians were chasing in the first game."
The Delhi Daredevils were quite poor against RCB, losing too many early wickets with the team only managing a decent total thanks to JP Duminy and Ross Taylor. While the bowlers fared better, they did not show enough quality to make a game of it against RCB, while there were too many catches dropped.
Delhi will be desperate to tighten up on all three aspects of the game against KKR. "Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik and Manoj Tiwary had an off day on Thursday and we fell short by close to 25 runs," said Daredevils all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who will be playing against his former team on Saturday. "We did lose the first match, but we played some good cricket. I hope we come back strong.
"It is just a matter of one good win. I hope we win against KKR."
DD might again have to do without the services of skipper Kevin Piertesen, though, who is still struggling to overcome a finger injury. If Pietersen is passed unfit again, the captain's reins will again fall upon Dinesh Karthik, who showed his inexperience running the game against RCB.
"There will be a review on his injury tomorrow [Saturday]," Shukla said. "He is one of the most valuable players in our team. We all want him to play and we are eager to see him play."
