Kolkata Knight Riders reached a formidable 194 for 6 in their match against Delhi Capitals (DC) thanks to Nitish Rana’s 81 off just 53 balls. His innings included as many as 13 fours and a six. After he reached his fifty, Rana held up a KKR jersey with his father-in-law's name, Surinder Marwah, inscribed on it, who passed away on Friday (October 23).

"Sent in to open the innings, @NitishRana_27 responds with a fine 50 and dedicates it to his father in law, who passed away yesterday," KKR tweeted. 

Rana has struggled for form this season, batting at No. 3 and in this crucial fixture he was sent to open the batting with Rahul Tripathi. KKR lost a couple of quick wickets but Rana added 115 for the fourth wicket with Sunil Narine (64), who is playing his first game since being cleared to bowl. 

For DC, it was Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Marcus Stoinis with two wickets apiece. With this knock, Rana now has 265 runs in IPL 2020 at an average of 24.09 and strike-rate of 138.74.

Before this match, KKR were in fourth position, just about hanging on to the spot, with DC flying high at second. A win for Delhi will see them take a massive step in confirming a place in the playoffs and for KKR, it gives them a four point lead from the team below, at least temporarily.