Indian Premier League 2022, Match 41: Delhi Capitals won against Kolkata Knight Riders by 4 wickets at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on thursday. KKR, who were batting first were stopped at 146 for 9 and DC easily exceeded the target with 150/6 as KKR suffered their 5th straight defeat. 

Delhi Capitals won the toss and opted to field. Except for Shreyash Iyer (42), KKR’s rest of the team struggled against Delhi’s bowlers. Nitish Rana top-scored with 57 off 34 balls and hit three fours and four sixes. Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was quite impressive with his bowling with figures 4/14 from three overs, while Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets in the final over.

Rahman bowled the first over for Delhi while Finch and Venkatesh Iyer started the proceedings for KKR and got only 2 runs off the first over. Chetan Sakariya bowled the second over and got Finch’s wicket with great zest. Iyer came to the crease as Thakur made a full-length delivery and the batter hit it with ease and scored a boundary. KKR reached 17/1 after 3 overs. Yadav took the wicket of Indrajith and Powell took an easy catch. Kuldeep proceeded to take yet another wicket, this one being Sunil Narine’s. Nitish Rana played smartly as he scooped the shot against Kuldeep and fetched a boundary. He put his experience to use and made some useful runs for KKR. Shreyas Iyer scored two boundaries in one over against Axar Patel. Yadav finally put a stop to Shreyas Iyer as he got caught by Pant. KKR delved into more pressure as Yadav picked the wicket of Russell too. Yadav further picked his fourth wicket and Andre went for a duck, while Rana got to his fifty in style and he hit Thakur for a big six. Rinku Singh was playing a supporting hand here as he slammed and got a four. KKR reached 144/6 after 19 overs. Rinku went back to the pavilion but it was short lived as Rahman got his wicket. Powell takes a good catch and Rahman with a breakthrough again as he picks Nitish Rana’s wicket. It was an insane over as Southee departed as well. Brilliant last over and KKR got restricted at 146/9 after 20 overs.

Delhi Capitals started off their over with Prithvi Shaw and David Warner at the crease, the former was on strike and Umesh Yadav opened the attack but Shaw got caught out and bowled. Yadav made a good opening for Kolkata. Harshit Rana bowled the second and Mitchell Marsh hit that one high. Although he didn’t get a boundary, it was a rather aggressive start. He was dismissed after a four as he got caught by Venkatesh Iyer. Yadav bowled the third over and DC scored 1 run off the first 3 balls. Warner flicked one to the legside for a four. He greeted Tim Southee as he lifted his first ball for four. Another four by Warner as he picked it off on the legside. Penultimate over of the powerplay and Narine was bowling. 2 dots to start as Lalit struggled to get anything off it. He took a single to give the strike back to Warner. Narine bowled in beauty as the KKR fielder almost got a catch in the deep but resulted in a four. 

Southee bowled the final over of the powerplay and he was just short as it had the potential of being a catch out. DC scored 47/2 after 6 overs. Warner started off the 7th over with a four, practically just playing with the field. It was a nifty over by Sunil Narine. Harshit Rana bowled the 8th over and just 3 off the first 3 balls, all of them being good length deliveries. Next ball was too high and went for a six along with a no ball and KKR was left to deal with a free hit. DC managed 11 off that over. The proceedings were restarted with a four after time out as Yadav got hold of a Rana delivery and dispatched it over the ropes. Another one was hit straight down the ground for a four by Warner and so is the next ball. Narine bowled his 3rd over and he spared just 1 run from the first four balls. DC stood at 84/4 after 11 overs. 

Venkatesh Iyer bowled the 17th over and Powell hit him straight down the ground for a six. Proceeded to get a boundary. DC stood at 131/6 after that over. Southee came in to bowl the 18th over and Powell hit him for yet another six. Only a few runs were left for Delhi as 12 runs came from that over. Penultimate over of the innings and Shreyas bowled this one. 2 dots to start with Delhi needing just 4 runs to win. Another two 2 dots followed. Finally Shradul gets a single and Powel was brought on strike which sealed the deal with a massive six and Delhi Capitals win by 4 wickets, posting 150/6 in 19 overs. 

Warner was exquisite today and Powell followed up for Delhi Capitals. KKR suffered yet another loss, but individually Rana and Iyer put up a good fight for the team. The tournament is getting all the more exciting with every match, stay tuned for the next massive hit!