Picture : IPL / X
Kolkata Knight Riders riding on superb show by their bowlers and complimented by Phil Salt brute force outclassed Delhi Capitals by 7 wickets in a Tata IPL 2024 encounter at Eden Gardens Kolkata.
Earlier DC skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to bat first . And Pant move backfired as DC batting came a cropper against a tight KKR bowling unit . None of the top order batsmen could get a big score – Prithvi Shaw ( 12 ) , aggressive Jake Fraser-McGurk ( 12 ) , Abishek Porel ( 18) , Shai Hope ( 6) .
Skipper Rishabh Pant was lucky to survive and could not take advantage of dropped catches too . Pant was uncharacteristic in his innings of 27 ( 20 balls ) , Axar Patel ( 15 ) , Tristan Stubbs ( 4) . DC batting flopped big time .
Thanks to Kuldeep Yadav’s unbeaten cameo towards the end DC reached somewhat a respectable total . Otherwise they were in danger of been bowled out withing 20 overs. Kuldeep scored 35 ( 26 balls , 5 fours, 1 six) and that he was the top scorer summed up DC batting of the match. DC finishing at a below par 153/ 9 in their 20 overs .
KKR bowlers were on top : Mitchell Starc 1/ 43 ( 3 overs) a tad expensive again , Vaibhav Arora 2/ 29 ( 4 overs), Harshit Rana 2/ 28 ( 4 0vers), Sunil Narine 1/ 24 ( 4 overs) , Varun Chakaravarthy 3/ 16 ( 4 overs) Andre Russell 0/ 10 ( 1 overs)
IN reply KKR were in a hurry with their opening pair of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine . The duo put on 79-1, 6.1 overs. Salt was devastating with his 68 ( 33 balls , 7 fours, 5 sixes). Sunil Narine fell for 15. Rinku Singh promoted up the order was out for 11.
The chase was never really in trouble . Skipper Shreyas Iyer not out 33 ( 23 balls , 3 fours, 1 six) and Venkatesh Iyer not out 26 (23 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) ensured no further fall of wickets and saw KKR home comfortably by 7 wickets . KKR reaching 157/ 3 in 16. 3 overs)
DC bowling figures read : Lizaad Williams 0/ 38 ( 3 overs) , his first over went for 23 runs. Khaleel Ahmed 0/ 28 ( 3 overs), Rasikh Dar Salam 0/ 30 ( 2.3 overs), Axar Patel 2/ 25 ( 4 overs), Kuldeep Yadav 0/ 34 ( 4 overs)
KKR Impact Player: Angkrish Raghuvanshi replaces Varun Chakravarthy
DC Impact Player: Kumar Kushagra replaces Prithvi Shaw
Match: IPL 2024, 47th Match
Venue: Kolkata | Date: April 29, 2024
