Clan-Members » ir generation of futility was a relatively lo

Kolkata Knight Riders hammered Delhi Daredevils, bowling them out for 98, before winning by nine wickets in their opening match of the 2016 Indian Premier League. Leg-spinners Brad Hogg and Piyush Chawla took a combined 5-40 as Delhi were skittled out in 17.4 overs after Kolkata won the toss and chose to field first.In his first IPL game for Delhi, West Indies World T20 final hero Carlos Brathwaite launched his first ball for six, making it five in a row following his four straight against England, but was out lbw to Chawla later in the same over.Kolkata wasted no time in ticking off the runs required, Robin Uthappa (35 off 33 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (38no off 40) putting on 69 for the opening wicket, the latter scoring the winning runs in the 15th over.After Delhi were put in to bat first, Mayank Agarwal cracked Andre Russells first ball for four with a lofted drive, and the first over went for 13, and belied the teams latter struggles.Russell (3-24) responded terrifically, taking two wickets in his second - the dangerous Quinton de Kock departing for 17 from 10 balls, as well as Shreyas Iyer for a duck - and the West Indies fast bowler snared Agarwal in his third.A wicket-maiden from John Hastings (2-6) followed, with Karun Nair out for three, meaning Delhi had lost four wickets for 11 runs in 20 balls to finish the powerplay at 35-4.Pawan Negi (11) broke the shackles somewhat by hitting Colin Munro for six over long on, but was then stumped in the 10th over when looked to repeat the shot against Hogg (3-19).Chawla then added the scalps of Brathwaite and big-money signing Chris Morris (11), while Hogg had Sanju Samson (15) out caught behind, and Amit Mishra caught at slip, as Kolkatas spinners tore through the Delhi lower order.Kolkatas innings got off to a flying start, with Zaheer Khan carted for 16 in the second over of the innings, and Uthappa picking up back-to-back boundaries off Nathan Coulter-Niles third.Uthappa struck seven fours in total in his innings, with a sensational straight drive off Morris in the sixth over the pick of the bunch before he finally fell to Amit Mishra (1-11) in the 10th over.Manish Pandey (15no) came in and cracked three boundaries in his 12-ball knock as Kolkata cruised home, their captain Gambhir nudging the winning run.Watch continued coverage of the IPL on Sky Sports, with the next live action seeing Kings XI Punjab take on Gujarat Lions from 3pm on Sky Sports 2 on Monday. Air Max 270 React Australia .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Nike Air Max Cheap Wholesale . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. http://www.outletairmaxaustralia.com/air-max-tailwind-buy-australia/max-tailwind-4-buy-australia.html .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Air Max 270 React Cheap .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Air Max 720 Sale Australia . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. It has been a frustrating 2016 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fan base. With recently nonexistent expectations raised by a couple brief postseason appearances, the Pirates unexpectedly find themselves below .500 after being swept by the Cubs and Brewers. How did the Pirates get here, and what might their short-term future hold?The Pirates have been one of the games feel-good stories in recent seasons. It wasnt long ago that they finally broke their seemingly interminable streak of sub-.500 seasons and turned things around to the point that their current losing streak is more than a bit off-putting, though they remain in the race for the second wild-card spot that seemingly no team wants to win.One of the factors that held the Bucs back during their generation of futility was a relatively low team payroll, and their standing in that regard has changed only modestly. Their Opening Day payroll checked in at just below $100 million ($99.945 million, to be exact), 19th in the majors. Their year-end ranking likely will fall a couple notches, thanks to the money-saving trades of Francisco Liriano and Mark Melancon.In 2012-15, the Pirates ranked 29th, 25th, 27th and 24th in team payroll, respectively. Over that span, the Rays and Astros weree the only other teams to rank 24th or lower each season, and only two other clubs, the Indians and As, ranked below 20th in each of those four seasons.ddddddddddddThe Pirates have a superb and still relatively new ballpark, and their attendance has trended up in recent seasons, but the fact is they will never be near the top of the games salary rankings. They have flexibility to make a big strategic add if the competitive situation dictates it, but there will never be much margin for error.Its pretty simple. If the Pittsburgh Pirates wish to be perennial contenders, they have two primary tasks.1) They must grow their own superstars. This is because they simply are not able to compete for players at the top, or even upper-middle region, of the free-agent market.2) They must outsmart other clubs in an environment in which everyone is getting smarter. They must be creative, anticipate trends and zig when others are zagging.Before we look at how the Pirates currently grade out in those two areas, lets take a step back and assess how the Pirates have arrived at the intersection of Contention Street and Mediocrity Avenue. ' ' '