Synopsis: Kolkata Knight Riders lose to Delhi Capitals to end campaign on a whimper as IPL group stage suffers anti-climactic end
As soon as the Rajasthan Royals defeated Mumbai Indians at Wankhede, the lustre of Kolkata Knight Riders’ match vs Delhi Capitals was mostly lost as the Indian Premier League group stage ended in a rather anticlimactic manner with the hosts at Eden Gardens ending their campaign on a whimper after losing to the Capitals by 40 runs.
Contrasting fortunes for tweakers
Kuldeep Yadav outdid Kolkata’s spin twins Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine as the Delhi tweaker took 3 wickets at critical junctures, breaking the back of Kolkata’s chase and ending with figures of 3/29. Compared to him, Narine finished with 1/38 while Varun could only muster 1/35 in a match of contrasts.
Kolkata were off to a decent start with Finn Allen dazzling the crowd, scything through the decorated Mitchell Starc with a 4 off his first over and then a straight 80m six over the bowler’s head followed by a four in the Aussie’s second over. Auqib Nabi was also met with the same disdain as Allen placed him for a four through wide mid-on even as skipper Ajinkya Rahane slammed him over the ropes for back-to-back sixes with the KKR openers cutting the Delhi bowling lineup to shreds.
But the party did not last long as Allen completely missed a hoick, leading to Lungi Ngidi rattling his stumps for 20 runs. New man Manish Pandey got a six of his own in the 6th over as the Knights managed 55/1 in the powerplay. The KKR batters refused to let up with both Pandey and Rahane finding sixes off DC skipper Axar Patel in the 8th over. The hell for leather approach ultimately cost the Knights as Pandey was caught in the deep by Starc off Ngidi for 25.
Kuldeep would then account for Cameron Green who perfectly found David Miller in the deep for 2. Rahane, meanwhile, continued chipping away at the target, completing his half century in the 11th over. The Kolkata captain departed a couple of overs later as Kuldeep snapped him up for 63 runs. Rinku Singh lasted just one ball, holing out to Tristan Stubbs in the deep for 0 as Kuldeep notched up his third. Axar then put KKR 6 down cleaning up Tejasvi Dahiya for 1 while a bullet throw from Ashutosh Sharma from the deep found Rovman Powell well out of his crease. With their last ray of hope snuffed out, Kolkata finished with 163 with Ngidi also finishing with 3 wickets.
KL Rahul stars with 60 as KKR bowlers left wanting
Just into the 4th over of the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals match, news trickled in that Rajasthan Royals had defeated Mumbai Indians in the afternoon encounter. And just like that, a must-win game at Eden Gardens turned into a dead rubber with both KKR and Punjab Kings getting eliminated from the play-offs with Rajasthan qualifying as the fourth team.
But skipper Rahane wouldn’t have known that at the toss, sending the Delhi contingent to bat first with the aim of chasing down the target in a quick manner. However, their bowlers were initially left wanting with Abishek Porel and KL Rahul getting off to a fast start. After Anukul Roy was taken for 10 in the first over, Green was slammed for 14 runs in the third. It went from bad to worse for the Knights after Porel was dropped at 23 by wicketkeeper Dahiya.