#VIVOIPL2021: Prithvi Shaw’s Stunning 82 Helps Delhi Capitals Beat Kolkata Knight Riders By 7 Wickets

Picture : Twitter / IPL

After losing their previous match to Royal Challengers Bangalore by mere 1 run, Delhi Capitals made amends as they outplayed Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets at the Narendra Modi stadium. The hero of DC win was opener Prithvi Shaw smashed six fours in the first over in a stunning batting display on his way to a blistering 82 .

Chasing 155 for victory, the 21-year-old opener sent all the six legal deliveries from opening bowler Shivam Mavi to the boundary, as Delhi gathered 24 runs from the first over.

Mavi’s first delivery saw Dinesh Karthik diving full-length to his left to take a fine catch only to find later that it was a wide ball. Shaw then sent the next six balls to the fence one after the other.

He shared a 132-run stand for the first wicket with senior partner Shikhar Dhawan (46 off 47 balls), who played second fiddle throughout, as the duo annihilated the KKR bowlers.

Shaw was out in the 16th over after facing 41 balls, hitting 11 fours and three sixes but, by then, the match was as good as over.

Delhi chased down the target with 3.3 overs to spare, reaching 156 for 3 in 16.3 overs.

Shaw Shaw got to his fifty off 18 balls in the eighth over; it was his third half century of the season in seven matches.

He was dropped by Shubman Gill on 55 off the bowling of Varun Chakravarthy as Delhi reached the 100-run mark in 10.2 overs without losing a wicket.

Lead pacer Pat Cummins was KKR’s best bowler, taking all the Delhi wickets to fall and finishing with excellent figures of 3 for 24.

This was Delhi Capitals’ fifth win in seven outings while the Knight Riders suffered their fifth defeat in seven games.

Earlier, KKR suffered another batting collapse before late fireworks from Andre Russell lifted them to 154 for six after being put in to bat.

KKR were well-placed at 69 for one in the 10th over but slumped to 82 for five in the 13th before Russell gave the total respectability with a 27-ball 45 not out.

The West Indian’s blistering innings had two boundaries and four sixes.

Struggling opener Shubman Gill top-scored with a 38-ball 43, which was studded with three boundaries and a six, but he failed to convert his solid start into a big score.

KKR’s familiar batting slump came to the fore as captain Eoin Morgan and Sunil Narine both got out in the space of three balls without opening their accounts. Morgan was out to an unnecessary shot in the 10th over when the situation demanded he play till the end .

Lalit, who replaced the injured Amit Mishra in the DC playing eleven, grabbed both the wickets as KKR slumped from 69 for 1 in the 10th over to 75 for 4 in the 11th over.

For DC, Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav were impressive with two wickets.