There were as many as 4 changes made in our playing XI from the previous game against CSK. Hanuma Vihari, Chris Morris, Sandeep Lamichhane, and Harshal Patel found a place in the starting line-up. What transpired at our #QilaKotla against KKR was just magnificent.
Our encounter against the Kolkata-based franchise has to be the most exciting encounter of IPL 2019 till now.
We won the toss and chose to bowl first. The bowlers gave us a fantastic start. Sandeep Lamichhane got the first breakthrough. The youngster got Nikhil Naik out LBW in the 4th over. Harshal Patel then sent Uthappa back to the hut with a brilliantly disguised slower ball in the 6th over. Robbie was also LBW and the visitors were 36/2 at the end of 6 overs.
Rabada's pace and Rishabh Pant's athleticism meant the end of Chris Lynn in the 7th over. The Aussie player tried to hook an excellent bouncer from Kagiso but ended up gloving it to Pant - who dived to his left and took a blinder.
Our charismatic WK-batsman also received the Perfect Catch of the Match award for his outstanding effort later on in the award ceremony.
Harshal Patel got the big fish - the in-form Nitish Rana - in the 8th over. Rana clipped a delivery on his pads and Rabada took an excellent catch running to his right at fine-leg.
Shubman Gill was run out from a clinical fielding effort from our boys in the 10th over. KKR's youngster got a thick outside edge after swinging his bat at Lamichhane's ball. Rabada dived to his left at deep point to save the boundary and parried the ball towards Harshal Patel - who was also giving the chase. Gill went for the third run but Patel's throw to the non-striker end was flat and precise. Lamichhane collected the ball cleanly and made no mistake to send Gill back to the pavilion.
At this stage, KKR were struggling at 61/5 in 9.1 overs and we had the clear upper hand.
However, Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell not only steadied the ship for KKR but set it sailing smoothly. Their outstanding 95-run partnership helped the visitors reach a massive total of 185 in 20 overs. KKR's explosive Russell blasted 62 runs from 28 deliveries while their skipper made 50 off 36 deliveries. The two helped the tide turn in favour of the visitors.
Our boys were in for a stiff challenge as chasing a total of 186 at the Kotla wicket is no easy task.
Shaw and Dhawan walked in the middle to open the innings for us. Gabbar was back in the hut early after making 16 runs. However, Shaw and Iyer batted magnificently. They kept rotating the strike and also took calculated risks to keep the scoreboard ticking smoothly.
Captain Iyer departed after smacking a brilliant cameo of 43 runs from 32 deliveries but Shaw kept running the show for us. The 19-year-old went on to make 99 runs from 55 deliveries before being caught behind in the 19th over. This is Shaw's highest score of his IPL career and he was unlucky to miss out on a century after playing so beautifully.
Nevertheless, he left the crease putting us in a comfortable position to win the game. Eventually, we needed just 6 runs from the final over.
KKR's experienced spin maestro Kuldeep Yadav stepped up in the pressure situation. We got 4 runs from the first 4 deliveries of the last over but Hanuma Vihari, who made his season debut, was caught in the deep by Shubnam Gill on the penultimate ball.
There was more drama as 2 runs were required from the final delivery. Ingram played a shot to the deep. Uthappa was there to cover. The Port Elizabeth-born player ran as fast as he could for the 2nd run - however he fell short. Dinesh Karthik and Uthappa paired to afflict the run-out in the crunch situation and the match went into the Super Over.
Prasidh Krishna bowled the Super Over for KKR while Pant and skipper Iyer came out to bat for us in the defining over. After smashing the first ball he faced for a 4, Iyer skied the 2nd ball and Piyush Chawla completed the catch at mid-off.
We managed to add 5 more runs from the remaining 3 deliveries to finish our Super Over at 10/1.
After intense discussions during the brief break, it was decided that Rabada would bowl the Super Over for us. With Russell and Dinesh Karthik coming out to bat, KKR were always the favourites to win the Super Over.
Our young speedster aimed for a yorker in the first ball but it ended up being a low full-toss and Russell flicked it away for 4. The 2nd ball was a dot. But Rabada's 3rd ball was right into the block hole and uprooted the middle stump. Russell was out and Kotla went into a frenzy.
Uthappa came out to bat but the visitors could only manage 3 singles for Rabada's last 3 deliveries. A clinical effort by our speedster under pressure!
The youngster from Johannesburg did the unimaginable. He held his nerve to defend 10 runs and won the match for us in the Super Over. It will definitely be a match Rabada remembers for a lifetime - as will all the fans of Delhi Capitals. With this win, we can safely say that this is New Delhi - a new mentality - a new belief - a new approach - a new mindset. In all, it was a night to remember for the Delhi boys.
We face Kings XI Punjab away in Mohali in our next encounter on 1st April 2019.
Here is what our superstars had to say after the game.
"You have to keep your wits about you and be clear what you bowl. I went for the yorkers and it worked" - the man of the moment - Rabada – shared his thoughts after the match.
"I will give my 100 percent in all the remaining games. I am going to have the same attitude in all of them," said a mature Prithvi Shaw - who bagged both the Man of the Match as well as the Game Changer of the Match award.
There were as many as 4 changes made in our playing XI from the previous game against CSK. Hanuma Vihari, Chris Morris, Sandeep Lamichhane, and Harshal Patel found a place in the starting line-up. What transpired at our #QilaKotla against KKR was just magnificent.
Our encounter against the Kolkata-based franchise has to be the most exciting encounter of IPL 2019 till now.
We won the toss and chose to bowl first. The bowlers gave us a fantastic start. Sandeep Lamichhane got the first breakthrough. The youngster got Nikhil Naik out LBW in the 4th over. Harshal Patel then sent Uthappa back to the hut with a brilliantly disguised slower ball in the 6th over. Robbie was also LBW and the visitors were 36/2 at the end of 6 overs.
Rabada's pace and Rishabh Pant's athleticism meant the end of Chris Lynn in the 7th over. The Aussie player tried to hook an excellent bouncer from Kagiso but ended up gloving it to Pant - who dived to his left and took a blinder.
Our charismatic WK-batsman also received the Perfect Catch of the Match award for his outstanding effort later on in the award ceremony.
Harshal Patel got the big fish - the in-form Nitish Rana - in the 8th over. Rana clipped a delivery on his pads and Rabada took an excellent catch running to his right at fine-leg.
Shubman Gill was run out from a clinical fielding effort from our boys in the 10th over. KKR's youngster got a thick outside edge after swinging his bat at Lamichhane's ball. Rabada dived to his left at deep point to save the boundary and parried the ball towards Harshal Patel - who was also giving the chase. Gill went for the third run but Patel's throw to the non-striker end was flat and precise. Lamichhane collected the ball cleanly and made no mistake to send Gill back to the pavilion.
At this stage, KKR were struggling at 61/5 in 9.1 overs and we had the clear upper hand.
However, Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell not only steadied the ship for KKR but set it sailing smoothly. Their outstanding 95-run partnership helped the visitors reach a massive total of 185 in 20 overs. KKR's explosive Russell blasted 62 runs from 28 deliveries while their skipper made 50 off 36 deliveries. The two helped the tide turn in favour of the visitors.
Our boys were in for a stiff challenge as chasing a total of 186 at the Kotla wicket is no easy task.
Shaw and Dhawan walked in the middle to open the innings for us. Gabbar was back in the hut early after making 16 runs. However, Shaw and Iyer batted magnificently. They kept rotating the strike and also took calculated risks to keep the scoreboard ticking smoothly.
Captain Iyer departed after smacking a brilliant cameo of 43 runs from 32 deliveries but Shaw kept running the show for us. The 19-year-old went on to make 99 runs from 55 deliveries before being caught behind in the 19th over. This is Shaw's highest score of his IPL career and he was unlucky to miss out on a century after playing so beautifully.
Nevertheless, he left the crease putting us in a comfortable position to win the game. Eventually, we needed just 6 runs from the final over.
KKR's experienced spin maestro Kuldeep Yadav stepped up in the pressure situation. We got 4 runs from the first 4 deliveries of the last over but Hanuma Vihari, who made his season debut, was caught in the deep by Shubnam Gill on the penultimate ball.
There was more drama as 2 runs were required from the final delivery. Ingram played a shot to the deep. Uthappa was there to cover. The Port Elizabeth-born player ran as fast as he could for the 2nd run - however he fell short. Dinesh Karthik and Uthappa paired to afflict the run-out in the crunch situation and the match went into the Super Over.
Prasidh Krishna bowled the Super Over for KKR while Pant and skipper Iyer came out to bat for us in the defining over. After smashing the first ball he faced for a 4, Iyer skied the 2nd ball and Piyush Chawla completed the catch at mid-off.
We managed to add 5 more runs from the remaining 3 deliveries to finish our Super Over at 10/1.
After intense discussions during the brief break, it was decided that Rabada would bowl the Super Over for us. With Russell and Dinesh Karthik coming out to bat, KKR were always the favourites to win the Super Over.
Our young speedster aimed for a yorker in the first ball but it ended up being a low full-toss and Russell flicked it away for 4. The 2nd ball was a dot. But Rabada's 3rd ball was right into the block hole and uprooted the middle stump. Russell was out and Kotla went into a frenzy.
Uthappa came out to bat but the visitors could only manage 3 singles for Rabada's last 3 deliveries. A clinical effort by our speedster under pressure!
The youngster from Johannesburg did the unimaginable. He held his nerve to defend 10 runs and won the match for us in the Super Over. It will definitely be a match Rabada remembers for a lifetime - as will all the fans of Delhi Capitals. With this win, we can safely say that this is New Delhi - a new mentality - a new belief - a new approach - a new mindset. In all, it was a night to remember for the Delhi boys.
We face Kings XI Punjab away in Mohali in our next encounter on 1st April 2019.
Here is what our superstars had to say after the game.
"You have to keep your wits about you and be clear what you bowl. I went for the yorkers and it worked" - the man of the moment - Rabada – shared his thoughts after the match.
"I will give my 100 percent in all the remaining games. I am going to have the same attitude in all of them," said a mature Prithvi Shaw - who bagged both the Man of the Match as well as the Game Changer of the Match award.
