IPL 2023Delhi Capitals end 5-match losing streak with victory over Kolkata Knight Riders

By Rajarshi GuptaDelhi Capitals finally ended their losing streak when they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 4 wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday. DC’s bowlers were sensational after David Warner won the toss and decided to bowl against KKR after rain delayed the start of the match by an hour.

KKR’s batters struggled against Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav and were bowled out for a modest 127 off their 20 overs. David Warner, the Delhi captain, then hit his 4th fifty in 6 matches this season to help his side chase the total down. However, DC survived a huge scare from KKR’s spinners before somehow getting home in with 4 balls to spare.

IPL 2023 Points Table

Prithvi Shaw, Warner’s opening partner, had another disappointing game. He fell to Varun Chakravarthy after hitting the KKR spinner for a boundary off his first ball. However, that did nothing to deter Warner who continued to be ruthless in his approach as DC raced away to 61 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay.

DC vs KKRHighlights

Delhi Capitals lost Mitchell Marsh to Nitish Rana and Phil Salt to Anukul Roy in back-to-back overs but with David Warner in complete control, the hosts had little to worry about. Manish Pandey did not rush and kept a calm head in an assured partnership where most batters struggled against pace and spin alike.

KKR’s part-time spinners gave them hope with two quick wickets but they did not have a lot to defend and ultimately, questions must be asked of their batters and their injudicious shot selection.

Delhi Capitals were cruising along at 93 for 3 before KKR’s part-time spinners Anukul Roy and Nitish Rana and strike bowler Varun Chakaravarthy reduced them to 111 for 6. David Warner’s dismissal in the 14th over triggered a collapse before Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav held their nerves to get DC over the line.

Kolkata Knight Riders introduced two new openers on Thursday. Jason Roy was playing his first match for KKR and Litton Das was playing his first match in the Indian Premier League. And they were up against an experienced Ishant Sharma who was playing his first IPL match since 2021.

It was a great sight then for KKR fans when Litton Das hit the first ball he faced from Ishant Sharma for a boundary. However, their joy did not last long; Das fell to Mukesh Kumar without adding anything further. Venkatesh Iyer who scored the first hundred for KKR since 2008 a few days back, was dismissed for a duck by Anrich Nortje and Nitish Rana was sent back by Ishant Sharma.

KKR were in real trouble and they needed Jason Roy to stitch up a partnership with Mandeep Singh. The Knight Riders were precariously placed at 35 for 3 at the end of the Powerplay. Life was tough for KKR’s batters against a disciplined DC bowling attack and when Axar Patel snared Mandeep Singh, the visitors needed some kind of inspiration from either Jason Roy or Rinku Singh who joined him at the crease with KKR at 50 for 4 in the 9th over.

That inspiration did not come from Rinku who became Axar Patel’s second wicket as Delhi Capitals took a firmer grip of the match. KKR sent Sunil Narine ahead of Andre Russell but he did not last long either, thanks to Ishant Sharma who struck for the second time to cap off a superb return to the IPL.

Jason Roy (43), the top-scorer for KKR, was solid on debut but there was little he could have done as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end. It was poor shot selection from some of their batters – Venkatesh Iyer played a lose stroke to Nortje off just the second ball he faced, Nitish Rana had no clue against Ishant Sharma and Rinku Singh took one risk too many against the wily Axar Patel. These batters have been superb for KKR and they thoroughly disappointed on Thursday.

Kuldeep Yadav pushed KKR further back with the wickets of Jason Roy and Anukul Roy off successive deliveries and
Anrich Nortje dismissed Umesh Yadav to leave KKR 9 wickets down. Andre Russell went to the final over of the innings unbeaten on 19 off 25 balls and hit Mukesh Kumar for three successive sixes as KKR finished with 127 off their 20 overs.

Axar Patel (2 for 13), Ishant Sharma (2 for 19), Anrich Nortje (2 for 20) and Kuldeep Yadav (2 for 15) were the standout bowlers for Delhi Capitals. It was a great return to the Indian Premier League for Ishant Sharma who was subbed out immediately after bowling his quota of overs.