The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lost their first game of IPL 2019 at home. The Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated KKR on both the occasions in this edition and this time the veteran opener, Shikhar Dhawan who took them over the line. The southpaw brought all his experience on the table but missed the well-deserved century by just three runs. But the way he batted, Dhawan has announced his arrival, a tad late, in the IPL.
Delhi team started off well during the chase as they got off the blocks very quickly in the first couple of overs. But Prasidh Krishna dismissed Prithvi Shaw owing to a flying DK (Dinesh Karthik) and soon Shreyas Iyer was also gone back to the pavilion as well. Then, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant got together then and calculated the chase perfectly. Dhawan got decent support from Pant who looked to hit the ball hard at the start of the innings but then adjusted according to the situation.
WATCH – Flying Dinesh Karthik Dismisses Prithvi Shaw
It was him who unleashed the killing blows, in the end, to bring the required run-rate down even as Shikhar remained unbeaten on 97. Colin Ingram slammed a six eventually as the Capitals registered their fourth win of the season with 7 balls o spare.
KKR surprised everyone by dropping Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine and came out with a completely new opening pair. Joe Denly and Shubman Gill were sent up the order to show their prowess but the move failed badly. The debutant, Denly’s off stump for cartwheel by Ishant Sharma on the very first ball of the match.
Robin Uthappa played second fiddle to Gill and let the youngster take charge superbly. Shubman raced away to the half-century even as Uthappa and Nitish Rana were dismissed from the other end. Andre Russell’s arrival Gill some time to breathe but Keemo Paul snaffled the talented batsman. Meanwhile, Russell got in and slammed 45 runs off just 22 balls. The small ground meant the edges were also flying over the ropes.
WATCH – Rabada And Russell Give The Best Testimony Of Spirit Of Cricket
Dre Russ was looking dangerous even though the bowlers executed their plans. Finally, Chris Morris bowled one wide from around the wicket and the Caribbean was caught in the deep. The KKR couldn’t get the final flourish and they had to finish at 178 runs for the loss of seven wickets after 20 overs.
Brief Score:
Delhi Capitals – 180/3 in 19 overs (S Dhawan: 97*, R Pant: 46; P Krishna: 1/25) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders – 178/7 in 20 overs (S Gill: 65; C Morris: 2/38, K Rabada: 2/42) by 7 wickets and as many balls to spare.
Here is how Twitter reacted after Delhi’s win:
YEH HAI NAYI DILLI – my little angel thanks everyone @DelhiCapitals for making her birth week a special one – thank you @SDhawan25 @RishabPant777 @SGanguly99
— Parth Jindal (@ParthJindal11) April 12, 2019
"We wanted to take the match deep and finish it off as early as possible"
Rishabh Pant goes for the best of both worlds from the Dhoni and Kohli schools of finishing. #IPL2019
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) April 12, 2019
🤝🤝@DelhiCapitals win at the Eden Gardens 🙌 pic.twitter.com/e9syK6c6xM
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 12, 2019
.@KKRiders really missed Narine & Lynn who were struck down with the flu. With another game in two days time, they will hope that they recover soon. Can’t lose back to back games at home!! #KKRvsDC
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) April 12, 2019
Jatt nai manda aj top knock jatt ji 👏👏👏😊🙏🙏 @SDhawan25 and @RishabPant777 what a run chase by @DelhiCapitals @IPL
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) April 12, 2019
Very very good knock from Rishabh, showing a facet of his game and maturity which is so important for 50 over cricket #KKRvsDC
— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) April 12, 2019
Wonderful play by @RealShubmanGill & @Russell12A yet again. Losing is ok but today we kind of lacked heart, especially bowling, that’s sad. Only positive out of this game was that our Dada @SGanguly99 was at Eden on the winning side. Congrats @DelhiCapitals
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 12, 2019
Shubman Gill…… 👀 …. What a future !! #IPL2019
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) April 12, 2019
But but but Shikhar Dhawan deserves his Century 💯
But unfortunately chasing score kam reh gaya or Colin ne 6 k sath match finish kr diya 😅#KKRvDC #VIVOIPL #IPL2019 #DelhiCapitals
— Maggi_Bhau (@Maggi___10) April 12, 2019
Eden Gardens is still his Yard 🔥
Dadagiri 😍💙
Prince of Kolkata @SGanguly99#KKRvDC #Dadagiri #IPL2019— Judas (@HeyAmSayan) April 12, 2019
Shikhar Dhawan to Colin Ingram…#KKRvDC #DCvKKR #IPL2019 pic.twitter.com/I3OCVJaJpy
— Bruce Patel (@BruceWayne_42) April 12, 2019
Was waiting for Gabbar's celebration after century.
But Ingram had other plans.#KKRvDC #ipl2019— Sumeet | Accidental Blogger (@Sumeet_manohare) April 12, 2019
