The pitch at Eden Gardens used to be a spinners’ paradise. Ask Sunil Narine. Or rather, ask the batsmen who squirmed and looked clueless.
But during this IPL the Eden pitch doesn’t seem to be assisting spin as it used to. Even Narine didn’t trouble the batsmen as he used to – though that’s for other reasons. And so Kolkata Knight Riders didn’t miss their ace spinner.
Narine wasn’t even picked. He sat in the dug-out, expressionless and sullen. IPL has always been his annual celebration. This year has been a different story though. He is not having a great time.
Spin win
But the rest of the spin attack reaped plenty of rewards as the Sunrisers Hyderabad middle order floundered, chasing a stiffish target of 168. On a pitch that was designed to suit the slow bowlers, Kolkata had the upper hand right from the beginning of the match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad had one spinner and another all-rounder who could bowl spin. Kolkata had three mainstream spinners and one spin-bowling all-rounder. Clearly, the KKR team management knew their advantage and picked their team accordingly. Two spinners vs four spinners. They beat Sunrisers in the numbers game.
Brad Hogg was the best of the four. At 44, the Australian chinaman bowler demonstrated how the barrier of age could be pushed in sport if you have mastered your skills and completely understand your game.
He displayed a variety of leg-spin bowling that befuddled the Sunrisers middle-order, who kept looking to hit every ball out of the stadium. Against Moises Henriques, who persistently tried hitting the ball on the leg-side, Hogg bowled a brilliantly disguised wrong ‘un that shot up off the top edge of the bat and went straight to Pandey, who was at mid-off.
Piyush Chawla too made the best use of the conditions and returned with an impressive figure of 4-0-16-1. He was suffocating the Sunrisers batting line-up, who were recovering after losing two wickets in the first over. He tossed the ball up, making a perfect loop, which pitched and turned significantly. Chawla is one of the best exponents of googly in India and he used them to the best effect on Monday. After foxing Vihari with a series of googlies, he pitched one straight, short of good length, which Vihari missed by a mile, making for an easy stumping.
Seaming success
Johan Botha too provided good support as the three spinners shared a bowling figure of 12-0-65-4. But the man of the match on Monday was, surprisingly, not a spinner. It was Umesh Yadav. Yadav’s brilliant first over virtually shut the Sunrisers out of the contest.
After beginning with a wide, Yadav tested David Warner with a short ball on a slow surface. And, to clear Yadav’s doubts about how good Warner is with short balls, he pulled it over midwicket for a four. But Yadav’s comeback was a ripper. He pitched the ball full on the middle-stump line that swung towards the off. Warner, who tried to clip the ball towards the leg, found the ball clipping the bails off the off-stump.
Batting sunset
As for Sunrisers Hyderabad, their batting worries continued as no one could steer the chase once the captain of the ship – David Warner – was out. Naman Ojha, who once seemed to be Dhoni’s heir as a wicket-keeping batsman, has so far been a huge disappointment. The Sunrisers team management is probably sticking with him because they don’t a replacement, and his wicket-keeping has been fairly good. But it is high time Ojha made use of this extended lifeline.
Moises Henriques has contributed with the bat and the ball for the second time in a row which means Ravi Bopara might have to sit out for a while longer. Another tricky aspect of Hyderabad’s team selection has been the tussle between Dale Steyn and Trent Boult for the primary fast bowler’s position.
So far, Boult has looked a shade better than Steyn. But to be fair to Steyn, his figures don’t say the whole story. He has been a bit unlucky. There were edges that carried to the boundaries; some catches were dropped off his bowling. Steyn also looks like he is improving. He bowled quicker on Monday. But the Hyderabad think-tank is still unsure if they should give both bowlers a longer run or keep switching between them.
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But during this IPL the Eden pitch doesn’t seem to be assisting spin as it used to. Even Narine didn’t trouble the batsmen as he used to – though that’s for other reasons. And so Kolkata Knight Riders didn’t miss their ace spinner.
Narine wasn’t even picked. He sat in the dug-out, expressionless and sullen. IPL has always been his annual celebration. This year has been a different story though. He is not having a great time.
Spin win
But the rest of the spin attack reaped plenty of rewards as the Sunrisers Hyderabad middle order floundered, chasing a stiffish target of 168. On a pitch that was designed to suit the slow bowlers, Kolkata had the upper hand right from the beginning of the match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad had one spinner and another all-rounder who could bowl spin. Kolkata had three mainstream spinners and one spin-bowling all-rounder. Clearly, the KKR team management knew their advantage and picked their team accordingly. Two spinners vs four spinners. They beat Sunrisers in the numbers game.
Brad Hogg was the best of the four. At 44, the Australian chinaman bowler demonstrated how the barrier of age could be pushed in sport if you have mastered your skills and completely understand your game.
He displayed a variety of leg-spin bowling that befuddled the Sunrisers middle-order, who kept looking to hit every ball out of the stadium. Against Moises Henriques, who persistently tried hitting the ball on the leg-side, Hogg bowled a brilliantly disguised wrong ‘un that shot up off the top edge of the bat and went straight to Pandey, who was at mid-off.
Piyush Chawla too made the best use of the conditions and returned with an impressive figure of 4-0-16-1. He was suffocating the Sunrisers batting line-up, who were recovering after losing two wickets in the first over. He tossed the ball up, making a perfect loop, which pitched and turned significantly. Chawla is one of the best exponents of googly in India and he used them to the best effect on Monday. After foxing Vihari with a series of googlies, he pitched one straight, short of good length, which Vihari missed by a mile, making for an easy stumping.
Seaming success
Johan Botha too provided good support as the three spinners shared a bowling figure of 12-0-65-4. But the man of the match on Monday was, surprisingly, not a spinner. It was Umesh Yadav. Yadav’s brilliant first over virtually shut the Sunrisers out of the contest.
After beginning with a wide, Yadav tested David Warner with a short ball on a slow surface. And, to clear Yadav’s doubts about how good Warner is with short balls, he pulled it over midwicket for a four. But Yadav’s comeback was a ripper. He pitched the ball full on the middle-stump line that swung towards the off. Warner, who tried to clip the ball towards the leg, found the ball clipping the bails off the off-stump.
Batting sunset
As for Sunrisers Hyderabad, their batting worries continued as no one could steer the chase once the captain of the ship – David Warner – was out. Naman Ojha, who once seemed to be Dhoni’s heir as a wicket-keeping batsman, has so far been a huge disappointment. The Sunrisers team management is probably sticking with him because they don’t a replacement, and his wicket-keeping has been fairly good. But it is high time Ojha made use of this extended lifeline.
Moises Henriques has contributed with the bat and the ball for the second time in a row which means Ravi Bopara might have to sit out for a while longer. Another tricky aspect of Hyderabad’s team selection has been the tussle between Dale Steyn and Trent Boult for the primary fast bowler’s position.
So far, Boult has looked a shade better than Steyn. But to be fair to Steyn, his figures don’t say the whole story. He has been a bit unlucky. There were edges that carried to the boundaries; some catches were dropped off his bowling. Steyn also looks like he is improving. He bowled quicker on Monday. But the Hyderabad think-tank is still unsure if they should give both bowlers a longer run or keep switching between them.
