Sharjah: A massive run feast in Sharjah ended with Delhi Capitals coming out on top beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here on Saturday.
While Delhi posted a massive total of 228/4 courtesy of a swashbuckling 88 not out from Captain Shreyas Iyer and a fluent 66 from Prithvi Shaw, KKR managed to fall short by just 18 runs as they finished with 210/8 with healthy contributions from Nitish Rana (58) and Eoin Morgan (44).
KKR were played catch up but were very much in the game chasing the target even though they lost opener Sunil Narine early. There were brief partnerships between Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana- Rana and Andre Russell and then at the end Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi knit an useful stand giving hopes to the KKR fans.
With 30 required of 12 balls it looked like the tide was turning in KKR’s favour but a brilliant penultimate over from Anrich Nortje where he got rid of Morgan ensured Delhi stole the game away.
In the first innings after being sent into bat, Delhi got off to a flier as their opener Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan kept smashing it to all parts of the park. Dhawan fell after scoring 16 ball 26, but that did not dent the Capitals.
Shreyas Iyer took off from where the left-hander left and after Shaw’s wicket he carried on the scintillating display of batting with Rishabh Pant. Iyer was dismissive of both pace and spin, and was ably supported by Pant who hit two sixes which landed on the nearby road.
Finishing touches from Shimron Hetmyer helped Delhi post 228/4 and from then on there was no looking back.
With the win Delhi Capitals now sit pretty at the top of the table with 6 points from 4 games with 3 wins and a loss.
Brief Scores:
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field
Delhi Capitals:
Shreyas Iyer: 88, Prithvi Shaw: 66
Andre Russell: 4-0-29-2
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Nitish Rana: 58, Eoin Morgan: 44
Anrich Nortje: 4-0-33-3
