KKR’s Rana, Russell power proves too much
Revival seeking Delhi crushed by 71 runs
Chasing a big 201 runs target, Delhi Daredevils lost the plot midway and were bundled out for a paltry 129 against KKR. Riding on some big hitting by Rishabh Pant (43) and then Glen Maxwell (47), Delhi were on target with the run-rate. But they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and that proved the deciding factor.
For Kolkata, Sunil Narine 30-18-3 and Kuldeep Yadav 3.2-032-3 were main wreckers who sealed the deal for KKR.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders stepped on the gas with an Andre Russell carnage in the middle as they overcame a slow start to post a challenging 200 for nine against Delhi Daredevils.
Nitish Rana anchored the innings with a breezy 59, but it was Russell’s show in the middle overs, which lifted the hosts to 200 after being put in by Gautam Gambhir at the Eden Gardens.
Russell occupied the crease briefly, for 12 balls, but hit all over the park en route to a brutal 41 — 36 off them coming in sixes.
That the Jamaican did not have a single four in his whirlwind innings, summed up his dominance, before being deceived by Trent Boult’s inswinging yorker that unsettled his leg-stump.
The only blip in Russell’s innings was when he was dropped on 7 by Jason Roy off the bowling of Mohammed Shami, but from thereon there was no stopping the Jamaican.
Russell missed out on a fifty, but Rana brought up his in 30 balls in a highly impressive knock, which contained five fours and four sixes.
The former Mumbai Indians batsman caught the attention with his strokemaking and temperament, holding the KKR innings together before being done in by a slower one by Chris Morris.
After the departure of Russell and Rana, wrist spinner Rahul Tewatia (3/18) took three wickets in the last over, but the duo’s stunning 61-run partnership from 22 balls was enough to help KKR post a challenging total.
Boult gave Delhi Daredevils a terrific start, bowling a maiden first over to Chris Lynn, and then accounting for Sunil Narine.
But they still managed to score 50 runs in the Powerplay, thanks to some clean hitting by Lynn (31) and Uthappa, who scored a brisk 35 from 19 balls.