The Kolkata Knight Riders put up their best batting effort away from home in the ongoing IPL, though the finish to their innings wasn’t ideal. However, their bowlers responded with wickets at the right time, ensuring the Knight Riders returned to winning ways, defeating the Delhi Capitals by 14 runs at the Kotla on Tuesday.
In response to the Knight Riders’ 204/9 after they were put in, the Capitals lost their way despite being well placed till the middle overs. Old warhorse Sunil Narine did the star turn for the Knights in his second spell on a pitch that favoured batters more. The Capitals finished on 190/9.
Though the Knights remain seventh in the standings even after this comprehensive win, full points mean they are still in the playoffs race.
Where it turned
Despite the loss of opener Abishek Porel in just the second ball of their run chase off the bowling of left-arm spinner Anukul Roy (who replaced left-arm quick Chetan Sakariya), and the dismissals of Karun Nair and KL Rahul inside seven overs, Faf du Plessis and captain Axar Patel had kept the Capitals very much in the game.
Du Plessis turned the clock back to unleash some glorious strokes, while Axar played through pain in his left hand (injured while trying to stop a single early on), stitching a gutsy 76-run stand for the fourth wicket. With the Capitals at 136/3 and needing 69 off 41 balls, the pressure was very much on the Knights.
But then, just as he has done on several occasions in the past, Narine delivered when his team needed him the most. Being greeted with a six by Axar off the first ball of his second spell, Narine altered his length a bit and was a tad quicker in the air, inducing a false shot off the Capitals’ skipper that brought about his downfall.
Off the last ball of that game-turning 14th over, Narine foxed Tristan Stubbs and cleaned him up. The momentum was back with the Knights then.
If that wasn’t all, Narine, in his final over, made sure not to give enough room to Du Plessis, whose heave over the on-side didn’t travel much as he was caught in the deep. That second spell of Narine, where he took 3/10 in two overs, sealed the game for KKR.
Not just getting wickets, Narine also had to make the bowling changes and field placements from the 12th over of the run chase as regular captain Ajinkya Rahane left the field after hurting his right hand while fielding. Vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer was not on the field as he was replaced by Impact Player Vaibhav Arora.
Powerplay benefits
At the end of the Powerplay, the Knights were strongly placed at 79/1, thanks to the blazing start from openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Narine (27 off 16 balls). The ball came nicely onto the bat, and Narine, in particular, needed no second invitation to swing his bat, hammering Dushmantha Chameera for two boundaries and as many maximums in the Sri Lankan pacer’s very first over, costing the Capitals 25 runs.
Gurbaz, too, cashed in on the loose balls, taking on former Knight Mitchell Starc as well. The opening duo pummeled 48 in 2.5 overs before Starc struck with the wicket
of Gurbaz.
That Powerplay total was central to the Knights crossing the 200-mark even after being pegged back in the middle and closing overs, losing wickets to Axar, his spin colleague Vipraj Nigam and Starc.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 off 32 balls) top-scored for the Knights with another exhibition of his wonderful touch play. In a season in which almost all the Knights
batters have struggled to impress, Raghuvanshi stands out as an exception.
