In the DC VS KKR game, Delhi Capitals thrashed Kolkata thanks to Prithvi Shaw’s frenzied 82-run knock. DC was chasing an undemanding target of 155 which it met with 21 runs to spare. An in-form Shikhar Dhawan along with a run-thirsty Prithvi Shaw added 132 for the first wicket and with the victory, shot their team to the second position in the IPL 2021 table.
Winning the toss, the young DC captain Rishabh Pant inserted KKR to bat first. The opening duo of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana started off cautiously, scoring just a tad bit above the run-a-ball rate.
Looking to increase the momentum, Rana tried to open his arms but was trapped by Axar Patel’s spin and was stumped out at 15 off 12. Shubman on the other end hit a boundry or two in each over. By the end of the first powerplay, KKR was playing at 45/1.
Coming after Rana, Tripathi joined forces with Gill and pushed hard to form a partnership. The runs came, but never freely. Tripathi was more interested in rotating the strike and having Gill on the strike. The latter however was seeming to be plagued by pressure of not being able to strike well. Rahul’s end came soon as he found Lalit Yadav in the deep.
Another KKR game another disastrous collapse
What followed next was another Kolkata collapse of epic proportions with the team going from 69/1 to 82/5 in the span of seven deliveries. Lalit Yadav was the shining star who struck the biggest blows and scalped wickets for his team. He sent Morgan and Narine for ducks in just one over. Meanwhile Shubman Gill, who was somehow clinging to the wicket also threw it away and deposited the ball in the hands of Smith to end his 43 off 38 inning.
All eyes on the birthday boy: Andre Russell
With their team reeling at 82/5 with 8 more overs remaining, KKR fans were hoping for the birthday boy, Andre Russell to step in. Russell too had a sedated start with his first 16 runs coming off in 18 deliveries with just one maximum.
However, the West Indian showed that it was a calm before the storm. The quickly started thrashing DC bowlers hitting multiple maximums and boundaries to race off to 45 off 27. Experienced batsman Karthik came and went with the wind, only contributing 14 off 10. In the end Kolkata had to settle with putting 154/6 on the board.
Shaw goes berserk, hits 6 boundaries in 1st over
Chasing a manageable 155, DC got off to a start to remember as opener Shaw slammed 6 back-to-back boundaries in the first over itself. He became the second batsman in IPL history to ever do that, the first being another Indian opener, Ajinkya Rahane.
KKR bowled the next few overs as if they had completely given up on the idea of victory. The opening duo of Dhawan and Shaw blazed past the 50-run mark within 4 overs. The powerplay ended with KKR desperate for a strategic time out and DC putting 67 runs in 6 overs.
Minor hiccups before the inevitable victory
The partnership continued and soon Dhawan realized that he needed to just rotate strike and let Shaw’s bat do the talking. And boy, did his bat continue to do so. The 100-run mark was met in no time with the required rate dropping down to a laughable 5.5. The hopes of DC winning the game with 10 wickets was squashed when Dhawan was trapped by Cummins and dismissed LBW for 47.
Shaw too couldn’t complete his century as Pant who came after Dhawan started to make merry. He smashed a couple of boundaries and a six. When given the strike, Shaw looked too eager to end the game soon and, in that eagerness, he holed Cummins to Rana. Pant too perished as he mistimed a Cummins delivery and deposited it to Mavi.
However, these were the only hiccups and soon Stoinis hit a boundry to end the game in style.
