Kolkata Knight Riders was hosting Delhi Capitals with hopes of taking revenge. When these two teams played last time in IPL 2019 the winner was decided in the super over. Delhi won the toss and asked KKR to bat first. Ishant Sharma gave them a perfect start with a wicket on the first ball. Shubhman Gill and Robin Uthappa shared 63 runs to stabilize the innings. Gill scored a half-century and Russell played a crucial hand with 45 runs off 21 balls to take KKR’s total to 178/7 in 20 overs.
In response, Shikhar Dhawan gave Delhi a firing start with regular boundaries. His opening partner Prithvi Shaw got out early but that didn’t stop him from scoring runs at every given opportunity. Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer also got out inside the powerplay but Delhi reached to 57 runs till then. Dhawan found a good ally in Rishabh Pant and both shared 105 runs for the third wicket. Pant got out after scoring 45 runs while Dhawan remained unbeaten at 97 when DC crossed the winning line with seven wickets in hand. Have a look what turned out as reasons for defeat.
Also Read: Dhawan-Pant takes Delhi to an easy win
A slow beginning
Kolkata Knight Riders introduced a new opening pair against Delhi Capitals in form of Shubhman Gill and Joe Denly. But breaching through this pair wasn’t a tough ask for Delhi as Ishant Sharma removed Denly for a golden duck and gave KKR an early jolt. Thus, KKR batsmen decided to play steadily on green batting surface. Robin Uthappa took 30 balls for his 28 runs and despite scoring runs, Kolkata wasn’t moving at required pace. They scored around 70 runs in the first ten overs, which proved vital at the end.
Failed to capitalize on early wickets
KKR was defending 179 runs on a greenish 22-yard strip. The removed Delhi’s two out of top three inside the first six overs but failed to trouble others after that. Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant formed a firing duo and scored 105 runs for the third wicket and avoid a collapse. Had Kolkata removed these two batsmen, the scenario would have been different.
Also Read: Turning points of KKR vs DC game
GABBAR
The out-of-form Delhi opener Shikhar Dhawan has silenced his critics in style with a sizzling half-century against Kolkata Knight Riders. Chasing 179, Dhawan went after the bowlers since the first ball and gave Delhi a firing start. He scored unbeaten 97 runs in 63 balls, where he hit 11 fours and two sixes. This was his innings which took Delhi over the line by seven wickets with seven balls to spare.
