Thursday 26 / December / 2024
Kolkata: Delhi Daredevils crashed and burned to an embarrassing defeat at Kolkata Knight Riders, as visiting captain Gautam Gambhir suffered an ignominious defeat at his old stomping ground.
His team crashed to just 129 from 14.2 overs, as West Indian bowler Sunil Narine picked up another three wickets for just six runs an over to lead the purple cap standings as the leading wicket taker of the 2018 Indian Premier League.
Batting first, KKR amassed posted a massive 200/9 from their 20 overs. Chris Lynn (31) and Robin Uthappa (35) began briskly, and that was soon built on by a solid 59 from Nitish Rana, as Andre Russell ensured the Knight Riders reached the 200-run mark with his crisp 41.
Chris Morris (2/41), Shahbaz Nadeem (1/43), Mohammed Shami (1/53) and Vijay Shankar (0/12) were all expensive, as only Rahul Tewatia displayed some skill with the ball, taking three wickets at the cost of 18 runs.
With such a tall order in front of them, Delhi knew they would need to pick up quick runs. But their game plan went to pieces at the very beginning. Gautam Gambhir was dismissed for just eight runs, and he was quickly rejoined in the pavilion by Jason Roy (1) and Shreyas Iyer (4).
In came Glenn Maxwell (47 from 22 deliveries) and Rishabh Pant (43 from 26 deliveries), and with the two top-order batsmen performing well, Delhi’s hopes were rekindled, but that was soon snuffed out, as the Daredevils – who are second bottom in the Indian Premier League table – posted a spectacular return to their woeful form after the weekend’s win over Mumbai Indians.
Tewatia, Shankar, Nadeem, Shami and Boult were all dismissed for single-digit figures, as Delhi slumped to just 129 after 14.2 overs.
The result sees Kolkata climb to second, behind the Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Delhi are only above reigning champions Mumbai Indians at the bottom.
The next round of matches sees Kolkata travel to Jaipur to take on the Rajasthan Royals, while Delhi go down south to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
