The 16th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was a one-sided affair as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) thumped Delhi Capitals (DC) by a massive 106 runs at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
Shreyas Iyer, KKR captain, opted to bat first after winning the toss. KKR brought in Angrish Raghuvanshi, while DC were forced to replace injured Mukesh Kumar with Sumit Kumar.
Kolkata wasted no time, getting off to a blazing start with Philip Salt and Sunil Narine at the crease. The aggressive duo put up a quickfire 60-run partnership in just 4.3 overs before Salt departed for 18 runs. Narine, however, continued his onslaught, reaching his fifty in a mere 21 balls. By the end of the powerplay, KKR had amassed a mammoth 88/1, their second-highest powerplay total in IPL history. The onslaught continued as Raghuvanshi joined the party. The pair stitched together a 104-run partnership in just 48 balls, marking KKR’s second-highest partnership ever. Raghuvanshi, in a stellar knock, reached his maiden IPL half-century before DC managed to break the partnership with two quick wickets. Notably, Raghuvanshi became the second-youngest KKR player to achieve this feat.
The lower order continued the momentum. Andre Russell‘s brutal 41 off just 19 balls, Iyer’s quick-fire 18 off 11 balls, and Rinku Singh‘s explosive 26 off a mere 8 deliveries provided the final flourish to the KKR innings. This collective effort propelled them to their highest-ever team total and the second-highest total in IPL history, finishing at a staggering 272/7 in 20 overs.
Chasing a mammoth 273, DC’s start was a disaster. They lost four wickets for just 33 runs, putting themselves in a precarious position. However, a fighting partnership of 96 runs between Tristan Stubbs and skipper Rishabh Pant briefly revived their hopes. Unfortunately, their fightback was short-lived. KKR spinner, Varun Chakaravarthy, struck twice in quick succession, dismissing Pant (55 off 25 balls) and Axar Patel (golden duck). A few overs later, Chakaravarthy picked up another crucial wicket, removing the dangerous Stubbs (54 off 32 balls). DC were unable to recover from these blows and were eventually bowled out for 166, handing KKR a comfortable victory.
Sunil Narine was adjusted as the man of the match for his allround effort.
With this dominant win, KKR climbed to the top of the league table, maintaining their perfect record of three wins from three matches. In contrast, DC slumped to ninth place after suffering their third defeat in four games.
Scorecard:
Kolkata Knight Riders: 181/5, Overs 20, Sunil Narine 85 (39), Anrich Nortje 3/58
Delhi Capitals: 166, Overs 17.2, Rishabh Pant 55 (25), Vaibhav Arora 3/27