Watch: Mitchell Starc couldn’t believe his luck, Gautam Gambhir left furious as Harshit Rana’s mistake leads leads to a six

Delhi Capitals (DC) at Eden Gardens suffered a batting collapse on a track that offered assistance to spinners. In the slog overs, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer went back to his strike bowler Mitchell Starc against Kuldeep Yadav. However, it did not turn out to be a fruitful decision as Harshit Rana’s mistake led to a six and Starc losing his rhythm. 
 

With eight wickets down in the 15 overs, Kuldeep was DC’s last hope for a respectable score. Starc bowled a short delivery to the left-handed batter. The southpaw went for a big shot and the top-edge went to deep square leg fielder Harshit Rana. The fielder attempted a catch but ended up palming over the boundary ropes. This was Kuldeep’s maiden six in his Indian Premier League (IPL) career which started in 2016. 

Starc could not believe his luck and was left smiling on seeing the ball going over the ropes. Had Rana not touched the ball, it would have been a four. On the other hand, KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir was not happy with the effort in the dugout.
 

Next ball, Starc sprayed the ball down the leg side and it went for five wides. On the last ball, Kuldeep flicked it away for a boundary towards square leg beating Rana. Starc was taken off the attack. He conceded 43 runs from three overs and picked the wicket of in-form Jake-Fraser McGurk in the powerplay overs. 

ALSO READ: CSK coach Mike Hussey weighs in on strike rate debate, says 'we don't talk about it much at all'
 

Kuldeep's cameo helped DC post a respectable total of 153/9. He remained unbeaten for 35 runs from 26 balls including five fours and a six. He also turned out to be the top run-scorer in the innings for DC. Skipper Rishabh Pant scored 27 runs from 20 balls. 

ALSO READ: IPL 2024: Hardik Pandya surprisingly finds fault in Tilak Varma's valiant knock after MI's loss against DC, says ‘If I had to pick something out...’
 

Kuldeep enters record books

Kuldeep's unbeaten 35 is the highest score by a no.9 batter for DC in IPL history. Overall, he is only behind former Mumbai Indians cricketer Harbhajan Singh who scored 49 runs against now-defunct Deccan Chargers in IPL 2010. The 29-run partnership between Kuldeep and Rasikh Salam is the joint-highest for DC for the ninth wicket. 
 

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