In a match where both teams snatched momentum just when the opponent was firming up their grip on the match, the Delhi Daredevils eventually prevailed, defeating the Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi.
After giving the visitors a target of 187, the home side bowled out the visitors – who were at one stage going well at 107-4 – for 159.
The Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan rattled the visitors early on, dismissing his opposite number Gautam Gambhir in the third over and then accounting for Piyush Chawla who was promoted as pinch-hitter. Befittingly, he returned to dismiss Umesh Yadav – the last KKR batsman, as the visitors were packed off for 159 with nine balls remaining in the innings.
To summarise the KKR innings, Robin Uthappa was the lone warrior. The opening batsman made 72 from 62 balls in an innings in which he hit six fours and two sixes. Suryakumar Yadav’s 21 was the second-best performance by a KKR batsman on the day. In the last ten balls of their chase, the visitors lost 5 wickets for eight runs, eventually collapsing to 159.
Zaheer Khan was the standout performer with the ball finishing with figures of 3-21, while Carlos Brathwaite too picked up three wickets, though he conceded 47 runs in his four overs. Amit Mishra (1-36) picked up a wicket at a crucial juncture; he held on to a powerful return hit by Andre Russell just when the Jamaican was warming up to explode. One needs to appreciate the energy shown by the Daredevils on the field too; they took all the catches that came their way and even took the opportunities to run out two KKR batsmen.
Earlier in the evening, DD, put in to bat, were off to a disastrous start yet again. Both the openers were back in the pavilion in the first over falling victim to Andre Russell. Sanju Samson made a run-a-ball 15 before he became Sunil Narine’s victim in the fifth over.
Then came the resurrection – through Karun Nair and debutant Sam Billings. Young Karun soaked in all the pressure and played some cracking strokes; there were deft touches when the ball was on the pads, he improvised playing the reverse sweep to thirdman and the regulation sweep to square leg, played the upper cut and even muscled one over the long-off boundary. The 24-year old, who displayed good temperament, brought up his half-century in the 15th over – needing 39 balls to get to the milestone – and carried on to make 68 before he played around an Umesh Yadav leg-cutter and was adjudged leg before wicket. The Karnataka batsman was involved in a 105-run partnership with Billings and helped rescue his team in magnificent fashion.
Billings, playing his first IPL match, justified why he is spoken about so highly. The Englishman came out to bat in the sixth over and muscled his way to a half-century – in the process becoming the first player to score a half-century on IPL debut since Richard Levi accomplished the feat in 2012. He picked the gaps well, ran hard between the wickets, and whenever the bowlers erred on line or length, converted them to boundaries; he scored the bulk of his runs through the leg-side and was especially severe through midwicket. Against the spin trio of Narine, Brad Hogg and Piyush Chawla, he scored 40 from 23 balls. Billings perished in the 19th over when he tried to paddle an Umesh Yadav delivery down to fineleg, but didn’t pick the slower delivery, played way too early and had his stumps rattled; he made 54 from 34 balls and hit three boundaries and two sixes.
After Chris Morris was felled for a second-ball duck, Carlos Brathwaite applied the finishing touches to the innings; the West Indian scored 34 from 11 balls and hit three fours and as many sixes, before he became Russell’s third victim. Delhi Daredevils, 2 for 2 at one stage, had recovered admirably to post 186-8 – their highest total against KKR.
For the visitors, who made three changes to their side, Russell was the pick of the bowlers returning figures of 3-26, while Yadav picked up 3-33 from his three overs. Narine (1-22) was the only other wicket-taker in that innings.
Brief Score
Delhi Daredevils 186-8 in 20.0 Overs (Karun Nair 68, Sam Billings 54, Andre Russell 3-26, Umesh Yadav 3-33) beat
Kolkata Knight Riders 159 in 18.3 Overs (Robin Uthappa 72, Zaheer Khan 3-21, Carlos Brathwaite 3-47) by 27 runs.
Man of the Match: Carlos Brathwaite, for his 11-ball 34 & 3-47.
