IPL 10: The new match finisher Manish Pandey leads KKR to win over DD

New Delhi: Manish Pandey is playing a Virat Kohli in IPL 10 for Kolkata Knight Riders. The match-winning 69-run knock of this calm head also remembered of that MS Dhoni who used to finish games for India in the same fashion.

The combined efforts of Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey clinched win for the Kolkata Knight Riders against in-form Delhi Daredevils. KKR emerged victorious by four wickets against Delhi in the Indian Premiere League match at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here on Monday.

The whole credits for the thrilling victory over the hosts goes to classy Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan who shared match-winning 110-run stand for their side at a time when Kolkata was struggling, losing three crucial wickets.

Manish Pandey’s special knock came in 49 balls, powered with four fours and three sixes. His final six had decided things for KKR with team needed eight off three. Despite going for a big one, he played a sensible shot through extra cover for two runs, leaving his captain celebrate win in his own fashion. Manish was given Man of the Match for his superb batsmanship.

With 34 needed off the five overs, Delhi skipper Zaheer Khan and boys delivered accurate deliveries and made the game a hard-fought one for Kolkata.

Yusuf Pathan played a destructive knock of 59 runs off 39 balls. His inning was laced with six fours and two sixes.

Chasing the total of 168 runs, KKR seemed floundering in the beginning with DD bowlers troubling Kolkata's batsmen. Colin de Grandhomme was the first to depart scoring just a single run. He was followed by Robin Uthappa (1) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (14) to the dug-out.

For DD, Zak and Cummins bagged two wickets. Morris and Mishra picked one wicket each.

Earlier, following the blitz of Rishabh Pant, Delhi Daredevils posted 168-run total. Rishabh Pant's quick-fire knock of 38 runs came off in just 16 deliveries with two fours and four biggies. Pant, the powerhouse of talent, hit 26 runs off Umesh Yadav's over.

Opting to bat, Delhi Daredevils got off to a good start with Sanju Samson (39) and Sam Billings (21) adding some quick runs in the powerplay overs. Billings was the first to go just after the end of six overs. Samson's 39-run knock was laced with seven fours.

Nair, in his 21-run knock, took 27 deliveries, leaving DD's run rate go low. He struggled throughout his short inning. Shreyas Iyer threw his wicket at 26. He got out by the combined efforts of de Grandhomme and wicket-keeper Robin Uthappa.

For KKR, Nathan Coulter-Nile was the leading wicket-taker with bowling figures of 3/22. Chris Woakes, Sunil Narine and Umesh Yadav claimed one wicket each.