Happy with Delhi Daredevils comprehensive win against Kolkata Knight Riders, skipper Mahela Jayawrdene was in all praise for young Unmukt Chand, saying that the young Indian batsman showed a lot of maturity in his 40-run knock that proved crucial in the team's win over Kolkata Knight Riders.
"Definitely it was good knock. I saw him batting in the Under-19 World Cup final as well. It was a fantastic knock. When we came here and he was in squad I always wanted to try and back him and give him the opportunity," Jayawardene said after the 52-run triumph in the CLT20 lung-opener, says a report in Hindustan Times.
"But I wasn't sure where he is going to fit in that batting line-up exactly. I think he is a very mature young cricketer who understands the game much better. They were tough conditions but I think he handled them very well; so great credit to him. And hopefully he can improve further," he added.
Part of a line-up comprising some of the best batsmen in the world such as Virender Sehwag, Jayawardene, Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor, the youngster played a crucial knock to help set up the match against the Knight Riders, adds the report.
Meanwhile The Hindu reports that Delhi Daredevils beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 52 runs in its opening Champions League Twenty20 match here on Saturday.
“The Daredevils’ seamers bowled with fire and purpose to restrict a struggling Knight Riders to 108 in its 20 overs. Earlier, young Unmukt Chand and Ross Taylor played fine cameos as Daredevils posted a competitive 160 for eight. Most of the Daredevils big guns could not come up with a big score with only Chand (40) and Taylor (36) contributing substantially after being sent into bat at a Centurion pitch which had something both for pacers and spinners,” says the report, adding that except for the 64-run stand for the fourth wicket in 64 balls between Chand and Taylor, there was no substantial partnership for the Daredevils.
“The score would have been much smaller had not L. Balaji yielded 30 runs in the 17th over.”
According to a report in The Times Of India, Irfan Pathan, who opened bowling, rocked the KKR innings with his inswinging deliveries as he took two wickets in the first over itself.
“KKR captain Gautam Gambhir continued his poor form as he was the first one to go for a golden duck in the third ball of the innings. He holed out to Pietersen at mid-on failing to negotiate an inswinging delivery. Three balls later, Pathan had Bisla (1) for his second wicket. Bisla missed another inswinging delivery and was plumbed in front of wicket,” says TOI, adding that KKR were reeling at three for two wickets and matters became worse with Brendon McCullum departing in the first ball of Morkel with Chand holding a catch at point.
“Morkel was bowling near 150km per hour at times and one such delivery rose and hit Kallis on his gloves and his fingers bled at the impact. KKR crawled to 24 for four at the end of the fifth over and then to 41 for four with just two fours in the first 10 overs. At the halfway mark, the asking rate had shot up to 12 runs per over. Manoj Tiwary and Rajat Bhatia tried to make a match out of it but that effort ended in the 15th over after the duo shared 47 runs -- highest partnership for KKR -- for the fifth wicket from 9.2 overs,” adds the report.
