Quinton de Kock and Chris Morris both had quiet evenings, as the Delhi Daredevils fell to a nine-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
De Kock actually top scored for the Daredevils, but his 17 couldn’t prevent the side from stumbling to 98 all out, before Chris Morris bowled four wicketless overs in the Knight Riders’ successful chase.
After watching the Mumbai Indians post a modest total in their defeat to the Rising Pune Supergiants in IPL 2016 opener on Saturday, KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir chose to bowl first, a decision vindicated thanks to Andre Russell, who removed the top three batsmen in a lethal two-over spell, including that of De Kock, who used up just 10 balls for his 17.
That proved the catalyst for the slide, as 45-year-old Brad Hogg weighed in with figures of 3-19 from his four overs. Morris could only muster 11, as they were skittled for 98.
The chase was an easy one as Gambhir (38) and Robin Uthappa (35) tucked into openers Zaheer Khan and Nathan Coulter Nile, producing a 69-run partnership in the process.
On any other day, Morris’ figures of 0-21 from four overs would have been more than respectable, but unfortunately his side were in desperate need of wickets, and the only man to find one was Amit Mishra, before Manish Pandey (15) hit the winning runs with just under six overs to spare.
