IPL Report Card: Kolkata Knight Riders
Performance
Mats - 14, Wins - 6, Losses - 7-, No Result - 1, Points - 13
Position in Points Table
6/8
Results
| Vs. | Home Match | Away Match |
| Royal | Won by 5 runs | Won by 140 runs |
| | Won by 5 wickets | Won by 23 runs |
| Kings XI Punjab | Won by 3 wickets | Lost by 9 runs |
| Chennai Super Kings | Lost by 3 runs | Lost by 9 wickets |
| Mumbai Indians | Lost by 7 wickets | Lost by 8 wickets |
| Rajasthan Royals | Lost by 6 wickets | Lost by 45 runs |
| | Won by 23 runs | Match abandoned |
Top Performers
| Among Batsmen | Among Bowlers | ||
| Sourav Ganguly | 349 runs (13 mats) | Umar Gul | 12 wickets (6 mats) |
| David Hussey | 319 runs (13 mats) | Ashok Dinda | 9 wickets (13 mats) |
| Salman Butt | 193 runs (7 mats) | | |
Talent hunt
The Kolkata Knight Riders were one of the most hyped franchises in the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite some big signings in the team, there were some youngsters in the side who made a name for themselves. The likes of Ashok Dinda, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha were the standout performers for their franchise in the tournament.
Shukla was impressive with his all-round skills as he finished in the top 5 list for the highest run-scorer and wicket-taker for the Knight Riders. Dinda was second on the list as the most successful for the Kolkata team with 9 wickets whereas Saha caught everyone's eye with his liverwire skills behind the stumps.
Biggest disappointments
Ricky Ponting's drought of runs in the four matches for the Knight Riders was a big disappointment. An in-form Brendon McCullum's return to
The signings of international players like Mohamad Hafeez and Brad Hodge also didn't bear rich fruit as both of them performed miserably in the opportunities that they got. Ajit Agarkar also lacked firepower with his medium-pace bowling.
Bugbear
After the departure of McCullum and Ponting for national commitments, the Knight Riders failed to get the right batting combination in the top order. They kept on shuffling their batting order in every game which didn't pay any dividends as they failed to post any big total on the board.
Shoaib Akhtar's entry into the team sparked some hopes for the Kolkata franchise for a berth in the semifinal, but the speedster too was derailed with an injury in the final phase of the IPL.
Standout performance
The Kolkata Knight Riders began the IPL tournament with a bang. Kiwi Brendon McCullum triggered a massive score for his franchise in the IPL opener with a sparkling 158 runs, his maiden century in a Twenty20 match. The right-hander tore apart the Bangalore Royal Challengers by smashing the then fastest ton in the championship. His innings witnessed 10 boundaries and a record 13 sixes.
Trivia
1. Brendon McCullum scored the first-ever 150 plus score in any recognized T20 format against the
2. Kolkata Knight Riders were the second best bowling unit conceding 8.05 runs per over at the end of the league stage.
3. The Knight Riders ended the IPL as the best batting team in the slog overs, scoring on an average 54 runs in the final five overs.
From iplt20.com
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