Delhi Capitals (DC) rose from the bottom half of the table with a massive win over table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on April 10. KKR got nowhere close to the 216-run target and got all out for 171 in the final over. Kuldeep Yadav fired against his ex-franchise with four wickets in his spell including three in a single over.
Another Rahane failure
In reply to DC's 215/5, KKR opener Ajinkya Rahane failed again. The veteran survived two wrong decisions but could score just eight runs from 14 deliveries. Both Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer became Khaleel Ahmed's victims with the new ball.
Shreyas, Rana keep run chase alive
The partnership between skipper Shreyas and Nitish Rana infused some life into the run chase. Rana looked aggressive in the middle overs but got out to Lalit Yadav in the 12th over. Meanwhile, Shreyas got to his half-century but became Kuldeep’s first victim of the day. Before getting stumped, he scored 54 runs from 33 deliveries including five fours and two sixes.
Kuldeep’s perfect revenge
With required run rate climbing up, Andre Russell did not get enough strike to make damage while wickets fell at the other end.
Sam Billings tried to attack but could score only 15 runs. He became Khaleel's third victim of the day. Hero of KKR's last run chase, Pat Cummins could not do the damage as Kuldeep trapped him in front of the stumps in 16th over. In the same over, he got the wicket of Sunil Narine as well. Umesh Yadav went for the big shot as well but miscued. Kuldeep covered a lot of ground and then caught the ball to take his third wicket in a row.
In his last over, the leggie picked up three wickets and finished with 4/35 against his ex-franchise which barely gave him enough game time in previous two seasons.
One-sided in end
In the end, Russell fought a lost battle but looked a bit rusty. Russell scored 24 runs from 21 deliveries but got out off the second ball of the final over. Rasikh Salam became Thakur’s second wicket as KKR got bundled out for 171 with two balls left in the innings.
Shaw-Warner dominate
KKR bowlers took a heavy beating in the powerplay overs as Prithvi Shaw and David Warner dominated the proceedings. The DC openers scored 68 runs in the powerplay overs and did not lose their wicket to in-form purple cap-holder Umesh. Shaw continued his brutal onslaught and got to his second consecutive half-century from 27 deliveries. However, the 22-year-old could not carry on and got bowled by Varun Chakravarthy in the ninth over. He scored 51 runs from 29 deliveries in the 93-run opening partnership.
Pant joins the party
Skipper Pant promoted himself up the order after the openers laid the platform for a big score. The wicketkeeper-batter contributed with a 14-ball 27 cameo. Meanwhile, Warner got to his first half-century of the season off 35 deliveries in the 12th over.
Narine pulls it back
After Pant's wicket, DC's run rate went down before the death overs. Lalit Yadav and Rovman Powell registered single-digit scores again as they were outsmarted by Narine. Warner too got out in the 17th over to Umesh. He scored 61 runs from 45 deliveries including six fours and two sixes.
Thakur, Axar finish in style
Towards the end, Thakur and Patel's fiery cameos gave DC the finish they needed. They shared an unbeaten 49-run partnership from just 20 deliveries to get DC to 215/6. Patel scored 22 runs from 14 deliveries whereas Thakur was brutal in his approach. Thakur scored 29 runs from 11 deliveries including one four and three sixes. For KKR, Narine turned out to be the most successful bowler with two wickets for 21 runs. Once again, Cummins went for big runs in his four overs.
