Delhi makes Capital gains
SHARJAH: Delhi Capitals held its nerve in the climactic stages to prevail against Kolkata Knight Riders by 18 runs in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday.
Riding on a fantastic batting performance from its captain, Shreyas Iyer, the Capitals made a whopping 228 for four after losing the toss. The Knights made a valiant attempt at chasing down the score but fell short by a narrow margin in the end. That the Knights could reach that total was largely down to the power hitting of Eoin Morgan who made 44 (18b, 1x4, 5x6). Along with Rahul Tripathi, who made an equally enterprising 36 (16b, 3x4, 3x6), Morgan added 78 runs in just 30 balls for the seventh wicket to breathe life into his team's chase. But once Anrich Nortje removed Morgan in the 19th over, KKR's hopes of snatching a dramatic win ended.
The Knights' innings once again started shakily with the out-of-form Sunil Narine falling for just three. Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana, though, kept pace with the required rate hitting a flurry of boundaries to keep the pressure on Delhi bowlers. But once Gill got out to Amit Mishra, KKR lost a couple of wickets in quick succession leaving the lower order with an uphill task.
Earlier, Iyer showed his class with a captain’s knock of 88 not out off 38 balls after Prithvi Shaw’s opening act that propelled Delhi to a commendable 228 for four. If that was not enough, Rishabh Pant (38 off 17 balls) dusted off his rustiness with a quickfire knock.
A few of Iyer’s sixes landed either in the top tier or got lost in the car park adjoining the stadium, such was the timing rather than brute force that the DC skipper used.
BRIEF SCORES:
Delhi Capitals 228/4 in 20 overs (S Iyer 88, P Shaw 66) bt Kolkata Knight Riders 210/8 in 20 overs (N Rana 58, E Morgan 44)