IPL 2014 Final: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) — Players’ report card

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 title on June 1. By doing so, KKR have become the second team to win two IPL titles. It was a high-scoring match in the IPL 7 final and there were a lot of good and great performances. Shrikant Shankar analyses and hands out report cards for all the players who played in the IPL 2014 final.

According to batting order in the IPL 7 final

Kings XI Punjab

Virender Sehwag – 3/10

Virender Sehwag could not follow up on his century from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 Qualifier 2 to the IPL 7 final. The dasher only scored seven runs off 10 deliveries. The elusive IPL title stays away from Sehwag for one more season.

Manan Vohra – 7/10

Sehwag’s opening partner Manan Vohra gave Kings XI Punjab (KXPI) a solid foundation despite losing two quick wickets around him. He scored 67 off 56 deliveries. Vohra struck six fours and two sixes with a strike-rate of 128.84. When he got out, KXIP were in a good position at 159 for three after 17.1 overs. He also took an important catch at deep square-leg to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav late in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) innings.

George Bailey – 4/10

The KXIP captain George Bailey could only score one run off two deliveries while batting at No 3. Some of his fielding decided the fate of the match and also how it panned out in the end. Bailey ran out Shakib Al Hasan with a brilliant throw on the dive. He also caught Manish Pandey in the 17th over, but he dropped him in the 12th over. It was a tough chance at extra-cover, but Manish was at 60 at the time and went onto score 94. This was the most important turning point in the IPL 7 final.

Wriddhiman Saha – 9/10

What a time and match to score a century! Wriddhiman Saha scored his first and the third century overall in IPL 2014. He came into bat with the score at 30 for two in 5.1 overs. He shared a magnificent 129-run partnership with Vohra for the third wicket at a run-rate of 10.75. Saha remained unbeaten on 115 off only 55 deliveries with 10 fours and eight sixes. He laid into Sunil Narine in the 19th over of KXIP’s innings. He helped Punjab post 199 for four in their 20 overs. He deserved to end up on the winning side.

Glenn Maxwell – 2/10

Glenn Maxwell won the Player of the Series award, but his performance in the IPL 2014 final did not live up to the billing. He was out for a first-ball duck. Maxwell did take an important catch to dismiss Yusuf Pathan, but it wasn’t enough in the end.

David Miller – 5/10

He could only get one delivery to face in the KXIP innings. David Miller took two high-pressure catches in the KKR innings and was generally good out on the field.

Akshar Patel – 8.5/10

The left-arm spinner was the only reason KXIP took the match into the last match. Akshar Patel finished with figures of 4-0-21-0. he could have had Manish’s wicket, but for Bailey’s drop. The KKR batsmen found it incredibly tough to score against him when it was very easy against all the other bowlers.

Mitchell Johnson – 3/10

Mitchell Johnson took two wickets but his performance was not up to the level one would expect from him. He dismissed Robin Uthappa and Suryakumar to give KXIP a chance. He bowled five very good deliveries in the 19th over to bring back hope for Punjab, but the sixth was a short delivery and Piyush Chawla pulled it, as if he expected it from the beginning, for a six. It was always KKR from there.

Lakshmipathy Balaji – 2/10

His inclusion was a surprise, especially in place of Sandeep Sharma. Lakshmipathy Balaji was expensive giving away 41 runs in his four overs wicket taking any wickets.

Karanveer Singh – 3/10

He was actually the most expensive bowler in the final conceding 54 runs. Karanveer Singh bowled either wide down the leg side or the off side far too often in the match. All his four wickets were mishits from the batsmen.

Parvinder Awana – 1/10

If anyone had a match to forget, it was Parvinder Awana. The seamer was out of sorts in the final and looked low on confidence. Even if Balaji was chosen for experience, Awana’s inclusion was not a great decision. He conceded 43 runs in 3.3 overs.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Robin Uthappa – 3/10

Robin Uthappa ended IPL 2014 as the leading run-scorer with 660 runs from 16 matches. But the law of averages caught up with him as he scored only five runs before getting out in the first over of the run-chase.

Gautam Gambhir – 5/10

Gautam Gambhir led KKR very well throughout IPL 7. He came back to some sort of form in the final with 23 runs off 17 deliveries. He also took the catch to dismiss Sehwag at mid-off.

Manish Pandey – 9/10

After going through a lean patch coming into the final, Manish Pandey made it count on the big stage. His knock of 94 off 50 deliveries won KKR their second IPL title. The innings included seven fours and six sixes. He missed out on a well-deserved century, but it didn’t change the outcome of the match. He intimidated the bowlers throughout his innings.

Yusuf Pathan – 6/10

He made history by becoming the first player to win three IPL titles. Yusuf Pathan scored a valuable 36 off 22 deliveries hitting four sixes. The only reason he has got a six on 10 is because of Manish’s excellent innings which deserved more points.

Shakib Al Hasan – 5/10

The all-rounder bowled well giving away only 26 runs. Shakib Al Hasan also flicked a yorker from Johnson behind for a four towards the end which helped KKR win. He was run-out by a brilliant piece of fielding from Bailey.

Ryan ten Doeschate – 2/10

Ryan ten Doeschate scored four runs off three deliveries. He got out with a needless slog towards long-on.

Suryakumar Yadav – 2/10

He only scored five runs and was done in by a slower one from Johnson.

Piyush Chawla – 7/10

Piyush Chawla gets one more point than Yusuf as he was the one who won the match towards the end for KKR. The leg-spinner took two crucial wickets in the KXIP innings – Vohra and Maxwell. Chawla then pulled Johnson for a six to turn the tide in the end. He also struck the winning four for KKR.

Sunil Narine – 3/10

Sunil Narine had a quiet IPL 7 final. He took the wicket of Bailey, but conceded 46 runs in his four overs. Saha made him look like an amateur. Narine did stick around till the end to help KKR win.

Morne Morkel – 2/10

The tall fast bowler went wicket-less while giving away 40 runs in his full quota of overs.

Umesh Yadav – 3/10

He took the important wicket of Sehwag, but did nothing else of note in the final. Umesh Yadav gave conceded 39 runs.

Click here for IPL 2014 complete coverage

(Shrikant Shankar is a writer/reporter at CricketCountry.com. Previously he has done audio commentary for various matches involving India, Indian Premier League and Champions League Twenty20 for ESPNSTAR.com. You can follow him on Twitter @Shrikant_23)