In the 41st match of the VIVO IPL 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders beat Delhi Capitals by three wickets. KKR chased down the below-par target of 128 on a tricky pitch with 10 balls to spare.
Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Delhi Capitals was off to a good start in the powerplay, but couldn’t maintain the momentum throughout the innings on an unconventional Sharjah pitch. The Knight Riders restricted DC to a total of 127 in their allotted 20 overs. Even though the target was under 130, but it wasn’t going to be an easy chase. The in-form KKR opener Venkatesh Iyer (14) couldn’t provide a start in this fixture as he was dismissed in the fifth over by Lalit Yadav. The two-time IPL winners lost two wickets within the powerplay. Shubman Gill (30) and Nitish Rana had a small partnership of 24 which kept the scoreboard ticking before the former was caught in the 11th over on Kagiso Rabada’s bowling. The KKR skipper Eoin Morgan also departed in the following over for a duck. Dinesh Karthik was the number six batsman, a less than a run-a-ball 12 came off his willow before he was bowled in the 15th over. Just when the momentum was shifting towards DC, Sunil Narine (21) who was the number seven batsman smashed 19 runs in Rabada’s over. Narine’s assault in the 16th over took the game completely away from the Delhi-based franchise. Narine’s cameo came to an end in the 18th over when he was caught by Axar Patel while attempting a pull shot. In the dying overs of the game, Rana opted for singles rather than playing a risky shot. Tim Southee, who came out to bat at number eight was also dismissed after contributing three runs. In the 19th over, Rana smashed a boundary at third man and took his team over the finish line with 10 balls to spare.
Steve Smith and Rishab Pant were the major contributors for DC. After a decent start, Delhi couldn’t manage to score boundaries in the middle overs and also lost wickets at regular intervals.
Narine was the pick among the bowlers for KKR as he pocketed two wickets for 18. Iyer and Lockie Ferguson had two scalps each while Southee had one wicket to his name. For DC, Khan grabbed three wickets while Anrich Nortje, Ashwin, Lalit Yadav and Rabada had one wicket each.
Following this fixture, KKR has retained their fourth spot with 10 points while DC has occupied the second position with 16 points. Narine was adjudged Man of the Match for his attacking 21 runs with the bat and two wickets with the ball.
Scoreboard:
Delhi Capitals – 127/9, Overs 20, Steve Smith (39), Sunil Narine (2/18)
Kolkata Knight Riders – 130/7, Overs 18.2, Nitish Rana (36*), Avesh Khan (3/13).