Cricket Highlights, 21 April: IPL 2023 (Match 28) – Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Match 28) – Highlights

Delhi Capitals (DC) finally got their first win of the season after five consecutive losses in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 4 wickets on Thursday night (April 20).

Batting first after losing the toss, the Knight Riders were all out for 127 in the allotted 20 overs. Chasing 128 runs in reply, David Warner’s team achieved the target by losing 6 wickets in 19.2 overs.

Chasing an easy target, the rest of the top-order batsmen failed with the bat except DC captain Warner. After Prithvi Shaw was dismissed scoring 13 off 11 balls, Mitchell Marsh returned to the dressing room getting 2 off 9 and Philip Salt could make 5 off 3. Warner alone guided the team forward. When he was dismissed for 57 off 41 balls, the team needed just 35 runs.

But even this simple equation was made difficult by Knight Riders’ bowlers Varun Chakaravarthy, Anukul Roy, and Nitish Rana. KKR kept the fight alive till the last over with their bowling skills. In the end, DC easily reached the target of victory with Manish Pandey’s 23-ball 21 and Akshar Patel’s 22-ball 19. They saw their first win in the tournament after five consecutive defeats.

Varun Chakaravarthy picked up 2 wickets for 16 runs for Knight Riders. Besides, Anukul Roy spent 19 runs and Nitish Rana spent 17 runs to take 2 wickets each.

KKR entered the field with a new opening pair at the Arun Jaitley Stadium earlier. England’s Jason Roy was partnered with Bangladeshi’s Litton Das. Although Roy was at the crease for a long time, Litton got dismissed in the second over playing his debut match in IPL.

He opened his account with 4 runs in his first ball. The wicket-keeper batsman faced 2 more balls in that over by Ishant Sharma. Mukesh Kumar came into the attack when Litton again went on the striking end. He positioned the bat on a bouncer on the last ball of his over and gave away a catch at short mid. Litton got out with 4 runs off 4 balls.

After that, KKR started losing wickets very quickly due to the fierce bowling of the DC bowlers. Venkatesh Iyer (0) made his way back for the team’s 25 runs, skipper Nitish Rana (4) got out for the team’s 32 runs, Mandeep Singh (12) departed while Knights’ score was 50 runs, Rinku Singh (6) got back at team’s 64 runs, and Sunil Narine (4) for team’s 70 runs.

KKR lost a pair of wickets for the team’s 93 runs. Kuldeep Yadav’s deliveries dismissed opener Roy and Anukul, who entered the field as an impact player. Roy scored 43 off 39 balls but Anukul returned to the pavilion before opening his account of runs.

Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell supported the team with the bat when the Knight Riders were in danger of collapsing around the 100-run mark. Russell, who survived till the last ball, played an unbeaten innings of 38 runs on 31 balls. Where there was 1 four as well as 4 sixes.

Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav took the highest number of 2 wickets each for DC. Mukesh Kumar also picked up a wicket. Ishant Sharma has also been adjudged the Player of the Match courtesy of his brilliant spell (4-0-19-2).

Kolkata Knight Riders are in the 8th place in the points table with 4 points from 6 matches. On the other hand, Delhi Capitals is at the bottom of the table with only 2 points taking part in the same number of matches.

Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders Scoreboard

Kolkata Knight Riders – 127/10 (20.0)

Delhi Capitals – 128/6 (19.2)

Result – Delhi Capitals won by 4 wickets

Player of the match – Ishant Sharma

Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XIs