The Delhi Capitals (DC) registered their first win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 after defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a close game by four wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday, April 20. The Delhi Capitals dismissed the Kolkata Knight Riders for 127 before chasing down the total with just 4 balls to spare after a delayed start to the game due to rain.
Delhi Capitals’ wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who returned with figures of 2/15, spoke about the importance of the win after witnessing 5 back-to-back losses in the tournament. He said, “The first win is always important to gain momentum. We bowled very well against Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a great effort from our side to restrict them to 127.”
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The Delhi franchise was in a spot of bother when Manish Pandey and Aman Khan got dismissed in quick succession during the team’s chase. When asked about the same, Kuldeep said, “We lost back-to-back wickets at one point in the game. But we weren’t too tense as there were few runs to get. Axar and Lalit finished the game for us. You always have to fight for your first win and we did that.”
Speaking about his own bowling performance, Kuldeep Yadav said, “I am really happy that my contributions have helped the team win. If I am bowling well and our team is not winning, my performance doesn’t matter.”
Ishant Sharma, who played his first IPL match after a gap of almost two years, returned with fantastic figures of 2/19. When asked about the speedster’s performance, Kuldeep said that he “massive respect” for the veteran pacer for churning out such a performance coming back from illness.
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Kuldeep Yadav explained, “Ishant was very accurate with the ball. And you also gain confidence when you enter the field with an experienced player. He knows the conditions well in Delhi and gave us important breakthroughs. I have massive respect for him as he produced such a performance after being unwell for a week.”
