KKR 204/9 in 20 Overs [Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44(32), Rinku Singh 36(25; Mitchell Starc 3/43 in 4 Overs] beat DC 190/9 in 29 Overs [Faf du Plessis 62(45), Axar 43(23); Sunil Narine 3/29 in 4 Overs] by 14 runs

The Kolkata Knight Riders clashed against the Delhi Capitals, in an all-important clash with an aim to pick up crucial two points and speed up their journey towards the playoffs. After their rain-hit last game ended in a no result, KKR were spirited and raring to go in order to take on the field and deliver a strong performance. The Knights’ road to playoffs looked a steep one yet the determination was unshaken as they aimed to take one game at a time and give everything they have.

KKR had a rollicking start to their innings after being put into bat first by DC. Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sunil Narine started the attack right from the outset and put on a lot of pressure on the DC bowlers. Narine took full toll of the powerplay as he smashed the pacers while Gurbaz didn’t let any bowlers settle. KKR raced to a fifty in just 3 overs and despite losing the wicket of Gurbaz, skipper Ajinkya Rahane came in with the same fiery intent. Both Narine and Rahane allowed no respite to DC bowlers as KKR ended the powerplay with 79 runs on the board. The Capitals were able to come back in the game with three quick wickets as they aimed to get back into the game. Angkrish Raghuvanshi alongside Rinku Singh, stabilized the innings after the collapse, as they kept rotating the strike and punishing the bad balls. Both played the spinners beautifully as they kept the scoreboard ticking. However, both departed in order to accelerate the innings. Birthday boy Andre Russell smashed a few imperious shots in the end as KKR ended with a score of 205 at the end of first innings. It was all upon the bowlers now in order to restrict the capitals and pull off an important win.

KKR started off the defense with an interesting ploy of opening the bowling with Anukul Roy and the move paid dividends in the first over itself. He picked up Abhishek Porel’s wicket and gave KKR the much needed momentum. The bowlers were able to pick up three wickets in the powerplay which didn’t allow DC to take advantage of the powerplay. KKR looked to maximise their dominance, however a fighting partnership between DC skipper Axar Patel and Faf du Plessis helped the Capitals take big strides towards the total. Their partnership made it look like DC were cruising through to a victory. But as he has done for years, Sunil Narine turned the game around KKR as he picked up the all important wicket of Du Plessis. From there, the KKR bowlers derailed DC’s run-chase resulting in a comprehensive victory for KKR. An all-round team effort ensured that KKR pick up the crucial points and keep moving in their quest to the playoffs.