MATCH REPORT
Follow UsWhat a SHAW! Even the most optimistic Delhi fan wouldn't have predicted Prithvi Shaw to get six boundaries off the first six balls of the chase. But a 25-run over for DC meant the target of 155 looked far too measly and KKR knew their moment of redemption was long gone as they had put up only 154 on a Thursday evening. Mid-week blues indeed for the purple brigade.
When a premeditated reverse sweep came off the bat of Nitish Rana off Axar Patel, things started looking better for KKR. But as has been the case for them, that moment of brilliance was dwarfed immediately as Rana danced out to Axar only to be stumped with a wonderful piece of glovework by Rishabh Pant.
KKR had a slow start off the blocks thanks to a characteristic Shubman Gill innings and were 18 for no loss after 3 overs. The infusion of positivity was supposed to happen with the introduction of Axar within the Powerplay but again DC managed to wrestle back control. And once they did, they just didn't let KKR breathe well. Gill and Tripathi conjured up some important runs but the run rate never really threatened. Then came the barrage of wickets. A moment of madness saw KKR losing four wickets in no time at all.
Tripathi hit it straight to deep cover off Marcus Stonis and Captain Morgan fell for a duck after a Man of the Match performance in the last game. Sunil Narine's promotion has only promised a lot but nothing came out of it again as he was clean bowled for a blob off Lalit Yadav who also had accounted for Morgan. And then Gill missed out on a half-century as well with KKR sliding into a ditch out of nowhere. To put into statistics - from 69 for 1 to 82 for 5.
Dinesh Karthik joined Andre Russell and both had their share of struggles. Russell though hung in there to finish with a 27-ball 45, including a last-ball six, but DK was trapped LBW trying to reverse sweep Axar Patel. In the end, a score of 154 for 6 looked well below par. It certainly was too.
Prithvi Shaw drove, lifted, and slashed Mavi for 6 fours and the chase was on. DC were up and sprinting. Dhawan eased himself in and KKR had too many flat shoulders to console. The DC show went into overdrive mode with the Delhi unit notching up the highest powerplay score of the season. Shaw continued to pluck boundaries like a sorcerer and Dhawan happily biding his time in the middle.
The duo added 132 before being separated as Shikhar Dhawan fell to Cummins. The Aussie speedster also accounted for Shaw with Delhi needing only 9 to win. But that didn't deter Delhi from cantering home in the 17th over. With this win, DC have moved to double digits in the points table. And KKR continue to languish in the bottom half.