IPL 2018: KXIP vs DD, 3 key points from the match
The match 2 of the IPL 2018 proved to be an eventful contest between the two North Indian franchises. With Gautam Gambhir coming back to lead his home franchise, the revamped daredevils took on the spirited Kings XI Punjab who were led by their new skipper Ravichandran Ashwin in their own backyard.
Delhi Daredevils lost the toss and could manage to score only 166/7 from 20 overs. The skipper led from the front and topped the batting charts with 55 runs off 42 balls. Chasing a modest target of 167, opener K L Rahul started hitting from the very first over and scored 50 off just 13 balls. Karun Nair made good use of the situation and scored 50 off 33 balls to ease the chase. Handy contributions from Marcus Stoinis and David Miller ensured that the Punjab based side cross the line.
Let us look into 3 key points from the match:
#3. Power-play made the difference
Both the teams were balanced equally but what made Kings XI Punjab stand apart was the way they executed their plans in the power play over. Ashwin used 5 bowlers in the power play to reduce the Delhi Daredevils to just 45 runs along with the loss of dangerous Colin Munro. Only Gautam Gambhir managed to squeeze runs in those over.
On the contrary, K L Rahul shifted gears from the very first over and scored the 3rd fastest T20 fifty off just 14 balls. Although the Kings XI Punjab lost Mayank Agarwal in the power play, their scoring rate never dropped. Once the foundation was laid, the seasoned batsmen like Karun Nair, David Miller, and Marcus Stoinis just played according to their strengths and brought their team home with 7 balls to spare.