In a Nutshell

KKR put us in to bat after we lost the toss in our second home game. The onus was on the DD batsmen to deliver in a high-pressure game, and deliver they did!

Prithvi Shaw was supremely confident in his innings of 62 off 44. The start was excellent. Then, Shreyas Iyer put on an absolute masterclass and smashed it to all parts of the ground and the stands, to score 93* off just 40 deliveries – the highest ever score by a VIVO IPL captain in his first game. We’d put up a formidable 219/4 on the board, the biggest total so far this season.

In the second innings, the DD bowlers had KKR in lots of trouble early on, with four scalps in the powerplay. Despite losing half their side before the 10th over, KKR led by Andre Russell put up a fight through the middle overs. In the end, there was just too much to do, and we took this much-needed win by 55 runs.

Great Start, Savage Finish

Colin Munro’s reputation precedes him, and we saw why. He provided us with a great start, smashing a towering six and two fours from his first six deliveries. Munro went a long way in breaking the notion that he struggles against spin in the start. KKR bowled four overs of spin in the powerplay, and they went for 42. In DD’s fastest 50 this VIVO IPL season (4.4 overs), Munro didn’t spare even Sunil Narine. He went for 11, with Munro launching him for a four and six off consecutive deliveries. Prithvi Shaw too played some splendid shots. The openers middled almost everything, getting 57 off the first six overs.

Youngster Mavi bowled Munro at the end of the 7th over, but not before he had laid the platform for the rest of the batsmen with 33 off 18 balls upfront. The new skipper, Shreyas Iyer walked in at number 3. The 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw looked unfazed even against the likes of Mitchell Johnson, a man who had terrorized the English line-up in 2013. One shot in particular stands testament to our statement. In the 9th over, Prithvi Shaw deposited Johnson over mid-wicket with a delightful pick-up flick.

He brought up his first VIVO IPL fifty off 38 balls, in just his second game. In doing so, he became the joint youngest player to score a half-century in the history of the tournament. He got out in the 14th over, after announcing himself on the big stage spectacularly with 62 off 44.

Shreyas Iyer showed no signs of nerves in his first game as captain. He was putting on a show, playing some unbelievable shots. None better than the six over extra-cover off an Andre Russell delivery. After 16 overs, our score was 143/3. In the final four, we scored a scarcely believable 76 runs.

The skipper reached his third consecutive fifty in just 29 balls, crossing 1000 VIVO IPL runs on the way. Maxwell found his timing towards the end as well. But the star of the show, without a doubt, was Shreyas Iyer. He pummeled two massive sixes from the first two balls in the 20th over.

Iyer didn’t stop at “Do mein do”, though. The pressure was on young Mavi, and he was faltering. Iyer smashed two more sixes and a four. A total of 29 runs came from the final over to power us to a humongous 219/4.

Clinical Bowling Display

Our start with the bat was good, our start with the ball was even better. The KKR top three, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Sunil Narine were sent back to the pavilion within the third over. In the 6th, KKR lost Nitish Rana to another quick short one from Avesh Khan. Kolkata had made 51 runs and lost four big wickets in the powerplay. The DD bowlers had them in some trouble.

KKR spent the next few overs consolidating, but lost their skipper, Dinesh Karthik, just before the halfway stage. After 10 overs, their scoreboard read 83/5, with 137 more runs to get. Things were in control for us.

Shubman Gill and Andre Russell were starting to get a move on. Russell in particular was sending some scares through the DD outfit.

Nevertheless, our bowlers pulled things back brilliantly. 80 runs were required in the final five overs. Amit Mishra, Plunkett and Khan kept things quiet in the 16th, 17th and 18th overs respectively. This period of the game saw our bowlers give away just five runs in three overs. The fact that KKR lost three wickets during this phase didn’t help their cause. Avesh Khan cleaned up Russell with a perfect yorker, impressing once again. The game was pretty much sealed. It was an invaluable 55-run victory.

With their backs against the wall, the DD squad completely outplayed the opposition. The spirits are still positive. The boys will look to do something special in the coming games.

Brief Scores: DD 219/4 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 93* off 40, Prithvi Shaw 62 off 44, Andre Russell 1/28, Piyush Chawla 1/33); KKR 164/9 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 44 off 30, Shubman Gill 37 off 29, Glenn Maxwell 2/22, Amit Mishra 2/23)