A memorable knight
In today’s Indian Premier League match, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Delhi Capitals convincingly by seven wickets thanks to the skillful bowling of spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who claimed three crucial wickets prior to Phil Salt’s brilliant half-century.
After Rishabh Pant chose to bat, Vaibhav Arora had a brilliant start (2/29), limiting Delhi to a manageable 153/9. Chakravarthy (3/16) then excelled in the middle overs.
With most batsmen finding it difficult on a two-paced pitch, Salt took advantage of a break on 15 to smash a 33-ball 68. With Sunil Narine, he had a 79-run first wicket stand that came off only 38 balls, smashing five sixes and seven fours.
As KKR cantered home in 16.3 overs, captain Shreyas Iyer (33 not out off 23 balls) and Venkatesh Iyer (26 not out off 23 balls) finished the chase.
Lizaad Williams of DC will undoubtedly want to forget this excursion. He started the KKR innings with a misguided over that cost 23 runs, setting the stage for an easy chase. Williams dropped a sitter from Salt in the next over, hinting at worse to come.
From that point on, the world’s second-best T20I batsman could not be stopped as he hit his fourth fifty-ball score in nine matches with only 26 balls. In only six overs, KKR surged to 79/0 with Salt hitting on all cylinders.
Upon his introduction in the seventh over, Axar Patel, a left-arm spinner, made an instant impression by removing Narine (15). After that, he cleared out Salt, and it begged the question of why Delhi launched their spin assault just after the powerplay. Axar came back with 2/25, but Kuldeep Yadav let up 34 runs in his four overs without taking a wicket.
This ground has seen record runs scored and several sixes struck so far this season, but there were no fireworks earlier for a change.
After Delhi, KKR got off to a great start on the powerplay thanks to the return of Arora (2/29). After coming on in the ninth over, Chakravarthy quickly created a web as he bowled his four overs in a row, taking important wickets of impact substitute Kumar Kushagra, Rishabh Pant (27 off 20 balls), and Tristan Stubbs. — PTI
Quick scores
KKR: 157/3 in 16.3 overs (Salt 68, Shreyas 33*) against. DC: 153/9 in 20 overs (Kuldeep Yadav 34 not out; Chakravarthy 3/16, Harshit 2/28, Arora 2/29)
Sunday’s outcomes
RCB: 206/1 in 16 overs (Jacks 100*, Kohli 70*); GT: 200/3 in 20 overs (Sudharsan 84*, Shahrukh 58).
SRH: 134 all out in 18.5 overs (Markram 32; Deshpande 4) against. CSK: 212/3 in 20 overs (Gaikwad 98, Mitchell 52).
Not a perfect fit like a glove?
Lucknow: Tomorrow’s IPL match between the Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians will be KL Rahul’s last opportunity to establish himself as the Indian team’s second wicketkeeper. T20 World Cup selection is quickly approaching. Rahul’s T20 cricket strike-rate has long been a source of debate. Even though field limits are advantageous during the powerplay, Rahul has a history of getting his IPL innings off to a poor start. But this season, the LSG skipper has been able to change tack. Despite having a strike-rate of 144.27 this season, he has nevertheless scored fewer runs than Rishabh Pant (160.60) and Sanju Samson (161.08). Meanwhile, LSG’s bowling coach Morne Morkel said that speed sensation Mayank Yadav is anticipated to make a comeback. PTI
