Punjab out-kkr KKR

By 'out-kkr' I mean, of course, losing a wicket early, plodding along for most of the innings, and then trying to slog when it's too late to change things. Punjab did this better today than KKR have in their last three games. That's all there was to this game, apart from some very positive things for KKR.

Gayle laid into the returning Binga early on, but some very fine bowling by Shalabh Srivastava had him in all sorts of trouble and he eventually got out to him. Ganguly was much improved, going after the bowlers - he ended up with 50, but from 40 balls, and coach Whatmore (love the name) seemed mildly irritated whenever he was on camera. Tiwary (Manoj, that is) got his second 50 of this IPL, playing a really good innings with some pleasing cricket strokes and then unleashing himself on Irfan Pathan in a final over that cost 21.

Bond was in full cry today, pace and swing, blah blah. He got Punjab's key scorer (of late) Bopara off his second ball with a sharp indipper, great to watch. Punjab sprung a surprise today by sending in Yuvraj to open, much like KKR did with Ganguly. I do not like the similarity. Anyway, he threatened briefly, looking majestic against Ajit Agarkar's nippy medium pace before getting out going for too many big shots. To be fair, the shots were exactly what Punjab needed, except for the getting out bit. And speaking of Agarkar (kaan moolo to FIP readers), am I the only one glad to see him back? He may not be the most consistent performer, but when he's on song he's a great bowler to watch, and today was one of those days. He carries off a bouncer quite well for a skinny dude!

Murali Kartik was left out, weeeird decision that, considering his stats - 4 wickets (second highest for KKR) and an economy of 5.57. Iqbal Abdulla wasn't too bad, but he's not really a strike bowler. Dave Hussey is back, what an addition he is - KKR can only go north from here. Maybe.

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