Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Kuldeep, Mustafizur rock, Capitals cruise past KKR
Delhi’s left-arm wrist spinner and pacer share seven wickets to help team to an easy win vs Knights
MUMBAI: Given how difficult T20 is for the bowlers, every time they escape a hammering is seen as an achievement. A day after the Wankhede crowd witnessed a chase of 195, Delhi Capitals’ (DC) bowlers did an admirable job of restricting Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to 146/9. KKR’s bowlers also proved their worth by making Capitals work hard for every run.
Led by veteran pacer Umesh Yadav’s superb effort of 4-0-24-3, they made a match of it. Their valiant effort, however, wasn’t enough as Capitals won by four wickets with six balls to spare for their fourth win of the IPL15 and move to eight points.
Every time, the game looked like slipping away from KKR, they fought back with a wicket. At 113/5, Capitals needed 34 off 31 balls with Axar Patel well set on 24. A brilliant throw from the deep by captain Shreyas Iyer caught Patel short while going for the second run.
After 15 overs, the game was in the balance with 34 needed off 30 balls with four wickets in hand. All-rounders Rovman Powell (33*, 16 balls, 3 sixes) and Shardul Thakur though ensured there were no more twists.
Earlier, KKR’s final total of 146 hadn’t looked possible when they slumped to 35/4. It was Shreyas Iyer’s 42 and Nitish Rana’s 57 that gave their bowlers something to bowl at.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Bangladeshi left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman were the standout DC performers. Yadav claimed four wickets for 14 runs in three overs and Rahman got 3/18 in four overs. Rahman, after starting with just two runs in the first over, bowled an excellent last over in which he conceded just one run (and 1 leg-bye) and picked three wickets. Chetan Sakaraiya and Axar Patel provided fine support with figures of 3-0-17-1 and 4-0-28-1 respectively.
Trial and error
KKR unsuccessfully tried a fifth opening combination in as many games. Both openers were out by 4.3 overs and KKR 22/2. Back in action after recovering from a niggle, Aaron Finch was dismissed in the second over for three runs. Restored to the top of the order, Venkatesh Iyer made six. After five overs, KKR were 24/2. Batting first they needed to provide the cushion of extra runs to their bowlers who had the challenge of bowling with a slippery ball due to the dew factor.
The biggest setback for KKR has been left-handed Iyer’s poor form. In nine games, he has aggregated 132 runs at an average of 16.50, with a strike rate of 97.78. During his debut season last year, in 10 matches he amassed 370 runs at 41.11.
Sakariya, playing in place of the injured Khaleel Ahmed, ensured they wouldn’t feel the absence of their in-form pacer. Playing his first match, he gave the opening breakthrough with the wicket of Finch and bowled his two overs for six runs in the powerplay. The pressure applied by DC was relentless. After the good work of Rahman, Sakariya and Patel sharing the first six overs during the field restrictions, Kuldeep Yadav came in the eighth over and picked wickets two in two balls.
Dramatic start
The DC innings was also off to a dramatic start with Umesh Yadav pulling off a superb, diving catch off his bowling to dismiss Prithvi Shaw off the first ball. Mitch Marsh fell in the second over but David Warner hit a flurry of fours to take Capitals to 47/2 after six overs. Capitals were well past KKR’s powerplay total of 29 for two. Though, KKR picked up wickets at regular intervals, they didn’t have enough runs to fully stretch the Capitals.
146/9 in 20 overs (S Iyer 42, N Rana 57, RK Singh 23; M Rahman 3/18, K Yadav 4/14) lost to 150/6 in 19 overs (D Warner 42, L Yadav 22, R Powell 33*; U Yadav 3/24. S Narine 1/19)