Delhi Capitals (DC) were handed a seven-wicket defeat by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their IPL 2024 match at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Monday.
Kuldeep Yadav top-scored for us with an unbeaten 35 off 26 balls and Rishabh Pant made 27 as DC managed 153/9 in 20 overs. Varun Chakravarthy picked up 3/16 for KKR.
In return, the Knight Riders reached the target off 16.3 overs with Phil Salt getting 68 and skipper Shreyas Iyer remaining unbeaten on 33. Axar Patel was our best bowler with figures of 2/25 in four overs. Lizaad Williams picked up his maiden IPL wicket.
Our skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Prithvi Shaw and pacer Rasikh Salam came into the team instead of Kumar Kushagra and Mukesh Kumar respectively.
Shaw started with three crisp boundaries of pacer Mitchell Starc’s first three balls. However, the opener could not extend his stay at the crease as he was dismissed in the second over.
Jake Fraser-Mcgurk, our other opener, hit a six and four in the next over and looked good for a big knock but was caught in the deep. Pant got going with a beautiful cover drive and soon Porel joined the party with a six and two fours.
Pant welcomed Sunil Narine into the attack with his trademark falling hit over square leg as DC reached 67/3 at the end of the powerplay. Axar Patel joined Pant as Porel departed for 18 in the seventh over.
Both left-handers tried to repair our innings with a partnership of 25 from 21 balls including three boundaries in the 10th over. But Pant fell in the next over for 27 runs, including two fours and a six, off 19 balls.
Kuldeep Yadav played a crucial role with the bat as he notched up his highest score in the IPL. He hit five fours and a six, as he first added 29 runs with Rasikh Salam for the ninth wicket and an unbeaten 13 with Lizaad Williams for the last wicket.
Kuldeep’s knock helped us to a respectable total as we set KKR a target of 154 and ensured that the bowlers had something to defend.
Our bowlers tried their best to contain the KKR openers as they raced to 79 in the first six overs. Axar brought some cheer to the fans as he broke the partnership by dismissing Sunil Narine off his first ball.
The left-arm spinner struck again in his next over, castling the other opener Phil Salt with an arm ball. Soon, Lizaad Williams scalped his first-ever IPL wicket as he sent Rinku Singh back reducing KKR to 100/3.
Our spin twins Axar and Kuldeep showed some fight, but KKR managed to close the match without further damage.
DC are currently sixth in the IPL 2024 points table with 10 points from 11 matches.
We are up against Rajasthan Royals in our next match at the #QilaKotla on May 7.
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 153/9 in 20 overs (Kuldeep Yadav 35*, Rishabh Pant 27; Varun Chakravarthy 3/16) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 157/3 (Phil Salt 68, Shreyas Iyer 33*; Axar Patel 2/25, Lizaad Williams 1/38) by 7 wickets.
Player of the Match: Varun Chakravarthy.
