Just 22 balls into the contest, KKR’s faint playoff hopes had already diminished at the Eden Gardens because of what unfolded across the country’s western coast at the Wankhede in Mumbai. The match turned inconsequential, Delhi Capitals powered their way to 203 with their first complete batting performance of the season, where every batter contributed, led by opener KL Rahul’s 30-ball 60. Ajinkya Rahane’s played a captain’s knock, making 63 off 39 in reply, but lacked steady support at the other end, as KKR folded for just 163 and conceded a massive 40-run defeat.
KL Rahul closes on with yet another banger
On either side of Saurabh Dubey’s two-over spell in the Powerplay, Delhi Capitals were aggressive and threatened to post a big score. Abhishek Porel got going with back-to-back boundaries off Anukul Roy, earned a reprieve on 18, but couldn’t make the most of it. He became Dubey’s first victim, falling for 22 off 18 balls. KL Rahul took on Cam Green for a six and a four, while Sahil Parakh, who replaced Porel in the middle, welcomed Sunil Narine into the attack with a maximum. Parakh got a life too on the very next delivery and rounded off the Powerplay with another boundary, taking DC to 53/1, with Dubey returning impressive figures of 1 for 5 from his two overs.
After slowing down slightly following an explosive start, Rahul took on Narine to accelerate again. He used his feet to good effect and slammed two sixes straight down the ground, along with another four in the same region, across the spinner’s two overs in the phase. Narine hit back with Parakh’s wicket after the batter chipped in a quick 24 off 17. Rahul brought up his 51st IPL fifty off just 25 balls and, alongside skipper Axar Patel, took Kartik Tyagi apart in a 20-run 11th over. He then punished Roy’s short-pitched bowling to fetch two more boundaries. But, the bowler had the last laugh as Rahul holed out in the deep after top-scoring with a 60 at a strike rate of 200.
Whether it was David Miller picking Tyagi’s slower ball to perfection or Axar taking on Varun Chakravarthy, the duo kept dealing in sixes to maintain momentum after a brief lull. Axar, in a dismissal similar to Rahul’s, miscued one to long-on after scoring 39 off 25 balls. Miller and Ashutosh Sharma then smashed three more maximums in the final seven deliveries of the innings to propel DC to 203/5, setting KKR a stiff target.
KKR's batting order collapses without fighting
Both Mitchell Starc and Auqib Nabi began with economical opening overs, but KKR’s openers soon shifted gears. Starc’s second over went for 15, with Finn Allen launching one well over long-off for six before squeezing another past wide slip for four off successive deliveries. Nabi then came under attack from the KKR skipper, who picked the lengths early and launched two consecutive deliveries over the ropes. Lungi Ngidi provided DC the much-needed breakthrough with Allen’s wicket, but Manish Pandey carried forward the momentum to maximise KKR’s Powerplay returns.
During the rebuilding phase, Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey struck three sixes off Axar in his second over, making it a costly 21-run over. However, DC kept striking at regular intervals to deny KKR sustained momentum. Once again, Ngidi broke the stand, dismissing Manish for a brisk 25 off 16 balls as he holed out to long-on. Impact substitute Kuldeep Yadav struck in his very first over, restricting Green’s contribution to just two runs.
Rahane brought up a 31-ball fifty to keep one end going, but Kuldeep dismissed both Rahane and Rinku Singh in successive deliveries of his final over to finish with game-changing figures of 3 for 20 in his middle-overs spell. Axar then got Tejasvi Dahiya to drag one back onto his stumps in the 15th over, leaving KKR at 129/6, needing 75 more from 35 balls. Rovman Powell briefly entertained with a few boundaries, but Starc’s 18th over proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the hosts, who lost three in four balls.
SCORECARD: Delhi Capitals 203/5 (KL Rahul 60 off 30, Axar Patel 39 off 25, David Miller 28 off 19; Saurabh Dubey 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 163 all out in 18.4 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 63 off 30; Kuldeep Yadav 3-29, Lungi Ngidi 3-27) by 40 runs