IPL 2019: DC vs KKR - Three masterstrokes that helped Delhi win against Kolkata
In the 10th match of the tournament, Delhi Capitals hosted Kolkata Knight Riders at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Delhi Skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss & decided to bowl first. KKR made one change to their team while Delhi made four changes.
KKR got off to a very slow start. The new opener Nikhil Naik played many dot balls and eventually got out. It started a collapse. KKR were 5/59 in 9 overs. Skipper Dinesh Karthik was looking in good touch and he was joined by Andre Russell.
Both played a few overs cautiously but once they got set, especially Russell, he absolutely hammered the Delhi bowlers. No bowler was spared. His fantastic knock and Karthik’s sensible batting got KKR to 185/6 when at a point it looked like they might get only 150.
In reply, Prithvi Shaw started on a superb note. Shikhar Dhawan departed after a couple of boundaries but Shaw formed a very good partnership with Shreyas Iyer. Iyer got out and Shaw was joined by Rishabh Pant. Shaw continued his onslaught. He played some delightful strokes all around the park. Unfortunately, he was undone by a short ball and got out on 99. Some sensible bowling from KKR and irresponsible batting saw Delhi fail to score 6 runs in last over and the match was tied.
Prasidh Krishna for KKR did a great job and conceded only 10 runs in super over. In reply, Kagiso Rabada bowled a fantastic over of pace bowling versus Russell and Karthik and successfully defended the target.
Here are three masterstrokes by Delhi to win this game.
#1 Good selection calls
Delhi Capitals made 4 changes to their team. Chris Morris replaced Keemo Paul, Sandip Lamichhane came in for Axar Patel while Harshal Patel replaced Ishant Sharma and Hanuma Vihari replaced Rahul Tewatia.
A few eyebrows were raised because of Harshal Patel's selection but he did well. Though Patel went for 40 runs in 4 overs, it was due to his expensive last over. Before that over, he hardly gave anything away to the batsmen. He bowled right lines-lengths and changed his pace very wisely. Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana have been in great form and Patel got both of them out.
Not playing Sandeep Lamichhane playing in first two matches was a surprising call by Delhi. Finally, they picked him and he showed his worth. Despite expensive last over, he finished at 29/1 in 4 overs. It was his and Patel's spell which triggered KKR's collapse in first 10 overs.
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on IPL score 2019, purple cap, points table, schedule, news, orange cap and fantasy tips.