Finance
KKR vs DC: In a riveting encounter at Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals, enhancing their playoff prospects in the IPL 2024
KKR bowled brilliantly in the match, with spinner Varun Chakravarthy taking three important wickets to prevent DC from scoring a competitive score.
Choosing to bat first, the Delhi Capitals struggled on a difficult pitch, scoring only 153/9 in their allowed 20 overs. The highlight for DC was Kuldeep Yadav’s hard-fought 35 not out, making him the leading scorer in an otherwise disappointing batting performance. Vaibhav Arora returned with a magnificent 2/29, establishing the tone early in the game. Chakravarthy’s 3/16 spell, particularly his dismissal of DC skipper Rishabh Pant for 27, hampered the Capitals’ innings.
In response, Phil Salt dominated KKR’s chase after getting dropped early in his innings, scoring 68 off 33 balls. His innings included five sixes and seven fours, which helped KKR reach the goal with relative ease.
Salt’s partnership with Sunil Narine produced a quick 79-run opening stand, putting KKR in command early on. Despite a minor hiccup produced by Axar Patel, who took two wickets, including Salt’s, KKR captain Shreyas Iyer (33* off 23) and Venkatesh Iyer (26* off 23) led their team home comfortably, finishing at 156/3 in 16.3 overs. This win not only improved KKR’s status in the points table but also increased their net run-rate to the best in the tournament at 1.096.
DC’s bowling, apart from Axar Patel’s 2/25, lacked the bite needed to defend their total. Lizard Williams had a forgettable outing, conceding 23 runs in a disastrous opening over that set the tone for KKR’s successful chase. The usually reliable Kuldeep Yadav also struggled, giving away 34 runs without claiming any wickets.
This match at Eden Gardens was less about the fireworks often seen in this venue and more about strategic bowling and capitalizing on opponents’ errors. KKR’s disciplined bowling in the powerplay and their aggressive batting approach in the chase underscored a well-rounded performance.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals will rue their inability to convert starts into significant innings, as well as their misfielding which proved costly in the context of the game.
KKR is currently comfortably second in the standings, looking more like a title threat, while the Delhi Capitals will need to recover and reconsider their league strategy moving ahead.
