KKR vs DC, September 28 2021, 3:30 PM IST
KKR won by 3 wickets and with 10 balls remaining!
Number of sixes – DC: 0 | KKR: 7! The Delhi bowlers put up a spirited fight but 127 was below-par even on this slow Sharjah surface. Pant employed just two overs of pace in the first ten overs and ensured that the two-time champions didn’t get off to a flier. Rabada was introduced only in the 11th over and he started off with a wicket-maiden.
And when Ashwin accounted for Morgan in the very next over, the game was nicely poised with the Knight Riders needing 59 runs off the last eight overs. However, it needed just two big overs to close out the match – 14th (by Lalit Yadav) and 16th (by Rabada) turned out to be ones. Nitish Rana found his mojo and took his team over the line. Narine, who was KKR’s best bowler earlier in the day, played a good little cameo with the bat too.
KKR have won three out of four in the UAE leg and it’s been a splendid turnaround. Today’s win would have boosted their NRR as well, that too in Russell’s absence.
The Capitals’ batters struggled on this sluggish surface, however they are still in a good position – placed second on the points table.
Losing captain Rishabh Pant:
Speaking about today’s loss, Pant said,”I think we were 10 short, not much. We knew wicket would slow down in the second innings. But every team is trying to win the match. We want to give 100% and if it doesn’t go our way we will learn and move on.
Batting was pretty difficult for new batters. We wanted to capitalise in the end with the bat, but we lost wickets and ended up 10 short. Bowling performance – really happy. There isn’t a massive change that we need to do.”
Eoin Morgan, the winning captain:
On winning the match, the left-handed batsman and KKR captain Eoin Morgan said, “Delighted. Tough playing two day games in three days. But delighted to get a couple of points. Winning toss and fielding is not an easy thing to do. Guys were more calculated today, and it came off.
When the outfield is slow, if you are cagey it can come back to hurt you. Both sides played the game hard. On a hot day, things can boil over. Thankfully it didn’t. We all played in the right spirit. And its a tough contest against Delhi Capitals. Full credit has to go to our coach Brendon McCullum. Its his ethos, his mindset, and the boys have bought into that.”
Player of the Match : Sunil Narine
Owing to his stunning all-round performance with both bat and ball, Narine was awarded as the player of the match. The mystery spinner said about the victory, “Watching a few games here, knew there’s a bit of spin here. Didn’t want to get too full. I’ve been through a lot.
Need to give credit to bowling coach, that’s a plus and that’s been key for me to come back. Batting in the middle-order is challenging. Its pleasing to see hardwork paying off after a long time. I think we are playing some good cricket. A few niggles, but that said we are playing good cricket.”
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