KKR vs DC in 50 Words
Smith’s 39 at the top of the order and Pant’s 39 through the middle were the only knocks of note as DC mustered a modest 127/9. Ashwin (1/24) found his groove and Avesh picked up 3/13, but KKR registered a 3-wicket win with 10 balls to spare.
A Stop-Start Innings
Once again, the flip of the coin didn’t go Rishabh Pant’s way. “We would have batted first anyway,” expressed Pant before revealing the big change for the game - Steve Smith for Prithvi Shaw who was nursing a niggle.
The new opening pair of Smith and Dhawan walked out, and Dhawan started off in a positive manner, hitting five deliveries to the ropes within the first four overs. Steve Smith joined in on the act in the fifth over, connecting a beautiful flick over mid-wicket and holding his pose for the shutterbugs. Alas, he lost his partner Shikhar Dhawan for 24 in that very over.
The in-form Shreyas Iyer couldn’t do much damage on the day, as a beaut of a delivery from Narine cut him in half and hit the timber behind him. The skipper joined Steve Smith at the crease with DC in some trouble at 40/2.
The next few overs went by in consolidation mode, with Smith getting away back-to-back boundaries off Varun to take our tally to 64/2 at the halfway mark.
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Steve Smith compiled a handy 39 before losing his wicket to the pace of Ferguson. It was up to Rishabh Pant to take DC to a fighting score, but he didn’t get much support from the other end. Hetmyer holed out off the bowling off Venkatesh Iyer before Narine accounted for Lalit Yadav for a duck. Axar Patel followed soon after with the rookie all-rounder Iyer picking up his second scalp.
We’d lost four wickets in the space of 15 runs and it wasn’t ideal going into the death overs. Rishabh Pant almost taking out DK’s head while trying to save the ball from hitting the stumps provided some much-needed comic relief, but the scoreboard reading 98/6 at the beginning of the 17th over was still a sorry sight for DC fans on a tough batting pitch at Sharjah.
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Rishabh Pant got a couple of boundaries away with Ashwin for company and went past Virender Sehwag to become DC’s all-time leading run-getter before he was run-out for 39 in the final over as the Capitals ended up with a modest total of 127/9.
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Avesh Impresses with 3-fer in Vain
The total defence didn’t get off to the greatest of starts with Venkatesh Iyer scoring two fours in the first over by Nortje. Axar Patel bowled the second, and he was taken down the ground for a maximum by Gill. Lalit Yadav drew first blood, getting rid of Iyer for 14 before Avesh Khan struck in his first over and the final one of the powerplay to dismiss the dangerous Tripathi. Rana and Gill consolidated and took KKR to 67/2 at the halfway stage.
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Kagiso Rabada was brought into the attack quite late, but he made an immediate impact with Gill’s scalp in a wicket maiden. Two balls later, an animated Ashwin found Morgan’s outside edge and the ball went safely into Lalit’s hands at slip.
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Just as the Capitals started fighting hard, Nitish Rana counter-attacked with two sixes and four in a 20-run over from Lalit Yadav. In a low-scoring game, it proved to be the difference between the teams, as Anrich and Avesh’s late wickets were another case of too little too late on a rare off day for the team from Delhi.
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One thing’s for sure, they’ll go back to the drawing board and come back hard in the next!
Brief Scores
Delhi Capitals 127/9 in 20 overs (Steve Smith 39 off 34, Rishabh Pant 39 off 36, Lockie Ferguson 2/10, Sunil Narine 2/18); Kolkata Knight Riders 130/7 in 18.2 overs (Nitish Rana 36* off 27, Shubman Gill 30 off 33, Avesh Khan 3/13, Anrich Nortje 1/15)
KKR vs DC in 50 Words
Smith’s 39 at the top of the order and Pant’s 39 through the middle were the only knocks of note as DC mustered a modest 127/9. Ashwin (1/24) found his groove and Avesh picked up 3/13, but KKR registered a 3-wicket win with 10 balls to spare.
A Stop-Start Innings
Once again, the flip of the coin didn’t go Rishabh Pant’s way. “We would have batted first anyway,” expressed Pant before revealing the big change for the game - Steve Smith for Prithvi Shaw who was nursing a niggle.
The new opening pair of Smith and Dhawan walked out, and Dhawan started off in a positive manner, hitting five deliveries to the ropes within the first four overs. Steve Smith joined in on the act in the fifth over, connecting a beautiful flick over mid-wicket and holding his pose for the shutterbugs. Alas, he lost his partner Shikhar Dhawan for 24 in that very over.
The in-form Shreyas Iyer couldn’t do much damage on the day, as a beaut of a delivery from Narine cut him in half and hit the timber behind him. The skipper joined Steve Smith at the crease with DC in some trouble at 40/2.
The next few overs went by in consolidation mode, with Smith getting away back-to-back boundaries off Varun to take our tally to 64/2 at the halfway mark.
View this post on Instagram
Steve Smith compiled a handy 39 before losing his wicket to the pace of Ferguson. It was up to Rishabh Pant to take DC to a fighting score, but he didn’t get much support from the other end. Hetmyer holed out off the bowling off Venkatesh Iyer before Narine accounted for Lalit Yadav for a duck. Axar Patel followed soon after with the rookie all-rounder Iyer picking up his second scalp.
We’d lost four wickets in the space of 15 runs and it wasn’t ideal going into the death overs. Rishabh Pant almost taking out DK’s head while trying to save the ball from hitting the stumps provided some much-needed comic relief, but the scoreboard reading 98/6 at the beginning of the 17th over was still a sorry sight for DC fans on a tough batting pitch at Sharjah.
View this post on Instagram
Rishabh Pant got a couple of boundaries away with Ashwin for company and went past Virender Sehwag to become DC’s all-time leading run-getter before he was run-out for 39 in the final over as the Capitals ended up with a modest total of 127/9.
View this post on Instagram
Avesh Impresses with 3-fer in Vain
The total defence didn’t get off to the greatest of starts with Venkatesh Iyer scoring two fours in the first over by Nortje. Axar Patel bowled the second, and he was taken down the ground for a maximum by Gill. Lalit Yadav drew first blood, getting rid of Iyer for 14 before Avesh Khan struck in his first over and the final one of the powerplay to dismiss the dangerous Tripathi. Rana and Gill consolidated and took KKR to 67/2 at the halfway stage.
View this post on Instagram
Kagiso Rabada was brought into the attack quite late, but he made an immediate impact with Gill’s scalp in a wicket maiden. Two balls later, an animated Ashwin found Morgan’s outside edge and the ball went safely into Lalit’s hands at slip.
View this post on Instagram
Just as the Capitals started fighting hard, Nitish Rana counter-attacked with two sixes and four in a 20-run over from Lalit Yadav. In a low-scoring game, it proved to be the difference between the teams, as Anrich and Avesh’s late wickets were another case of too little too late on a rare off day for the team from Delhi.
View this post on Instagram
One thing’s for sure, they’ll go back to the drawing board and come back hard in the next!
Brief Scores
Delhi Capitals 127/9 in 20 overs (Steve Smith 39 off 34, Rishabh Pant 39 off 36, Lockie Ferguson 2/10, Sunil Narine 2/18); Kolkata Knight Riders 130/7 in 18.2 overs (Nitish Rana 36* off 27, Shubman Gill 30 off 33, Avesh Khan 3/13, Anrich Nortje 1/15)
