Published: Apr 30, 2016, 10:22 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 30, 2016, 10:22 PM (IST)
A stellar catch and hara-kiri during the end overs cost Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) the game and Delhi Daredevils (DD) with their fourth win displaced their opponents from the second position. KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bowl, as chasing has been their strength. They got off to a brilliant start with Andre Russell dismissing openers Shreyas Iyer and Quinton de Kock in the first over of the match.
They soon lost Sanju Samson in the fifth over and from there on 150 looked tough. But Sam Billings and Karun Nair added 105 for the fourth wicket to guide them to a strong position before Carlos Brathwaite gave the innings the apt finish it needed. Billings, playing his first IPL game, made an impact, all would remember and Nair’s fifty was pleasing to the eyes. He seems to be making a habit of those 11-ball 34s.
One hundred and eighty six was definitely a good score but KKR had plenty of firepower in their batting to chase it down. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, KKR remained in the hunt with opener Robin Uthappa impressing yet again. 36 from 19 balls and nine out of 10 times, Russell and an in-form Uthappa would have won you a game from there.
Turning Point: It was a match-turning effort from Amit Mishra when he tossed up one to Russell and the batsman smacked it back towards Mishra’s head. The leg-spinner raised his hands and seized the rocket. Jason Holder was run out next over and in the span of four balls, Kolkata lost three wickets. That was it.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Daredevils 186 for 8 in 20 overs [Karun Nair 68 (50), Sam Billings 54 (34), Carlos Brathwaite 34 (11); Andre Russell 4-0-26-3, Umesh Yadav 3-0-33-3] bt Kolkata Knight Riders 159 in 18.3 overs [Robin Uthappa 72 (52); Zaheer Khan 3.3-0-21-3, Craig Brathwaite 4-0-47-3] by 27 runs.
