What could have been a one-sided encounter turned out to be a last-over thriller at Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 20. After an hour-long rain delay, the match started and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lost too many wickets. Opener Jason Roy and Andre Russell’s contribution helped them post a respectable total of 126. It seemed like an easy run chase but Delhi Capitals (DC) lost the plot in the second half. After David Warner’s half-century, Axar Patel’s cameo helped DC register their first win of the season by four wickets and four balls to spare.
Warner leads run chase
DC's run chase got off to a decent start. David Warner found boundaries easily and Prithvi Shaw played a few good shots as well. In the fifth over, Rinku introduced Varun Chakaravarthy and he got Shaw bowled. Out-of-form Shaw scored 13 runs from 11 balls including two fours. Warner went berserk in the sixth over and hit Sunil Narine for four fours. After powerplay overs, DC were 61/1. Mitchell Marsh's poor run with the bat continued. Nitish Rana introduced himself and got Marsh out off an ordinary delivery. Marsh scored just two runs from nine balls. Anukul Roy struck in his second over and got on-debut Philip Salt out for just five runs. At halfway stage, DC were 73/3.
DC collapse
In the 11th over, Warner got to his half-century from 33 balls. Boundaries dried up for a couple of overs. In the 14th over, Warner went for reverse paddle and got out lbw to Chaakravarthy. The opener scored 57 runs from 41 balls including 11 fours. In the 15th over, Axar Patel and Manish Pandey scored one boundary each to release the pressure. In the last five overs, DC needed 24 runs. Roy in his last over got the wicket of Pandey. He scored 21 runs from 23 deliveries including two fours. In the next over, Rana got Aman Hakim Khan bowled for a two-ball duck.
Axar holds on to nerves
Rana bowled a brilliant penultimate over conceding just three runs as Axar struggled. DC needed seven off the last over. Kulwant Khejroliya bowled yorkers but Patel ran hard between the wickets to get two runs off the next three balls. Khejroliya bowling a no ball also released pressure off Axar as he guided DC to victory with a 22-ball 19.
Poor start
Earlier, Warner won the toss and opted to field first. Warner brought back Ishant Sharma whereas Rana made four changes to the side. Das could only hit a boundary before getting out to Mukesh Kumar in the second over. In-form Venkatesh Iyer got out for a two-ball duck as he edged one off Anrich Nortje. Ishant got his first wicket of the season in the sixth over. Rana got out for a single-digit score. KKR were 35/3 after powerplay overs.
Wickets tumble
Mandeep Singh hit the first six of the innings off Marsh. In the same over, Marsh dropped Jason Roy off his own bowling. In the next over, Axar beat Mandeep's bat and got him bowled. He scored 12 runs from 11 balls. Roy welcomed Kuldeep Yadav with a six in the 10th over. At halfway stage, KKR were 64/4. In-form Rinku became Axar's second victim of the night. He went for a sweep and got caught by Lalit Yadav. The southpaw scored just six runs. Ishant came back into the attack and got the wicket of Narine who scored just four runs from six balls. Ishant conceded just 19 runs from his four overs and took two wickets.
Russell takes KKR to respectable score
Andre Russell took the aggressive route and hit Marsh for a six. Roy got a boundary off the same over as well. In the 15th over, Kuldeep got the wicket of Roy. The English opener scored 43 runs from 39 deliveries including five fours and one six. Anukul Roy got out lbw for a golden duck. In the 16th over, Umesh Yadav got caught and bowled by Nortje. KKR were reduced to 96/9 in the 16th over. Russell waited till the last over to unleash himself. In the final over, he hit Mukesh for three sixes in a row. Chakravarthy got run out off the last ball of the innings. Russell remained unbeaten for 38 off 31 deliveries as KKR posted 127 on the board.
