Kolkata: Phil Salt’s explosive half-century propelled KKR to a stunning 7-wicket victory. Salt’s fiery batting display played a pivotal role in KKR’s triumph over DC, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. KKR batters chased down the total in just 16.3 overs.
Phil Salt’s explosive 68 off 33 balls set the tone for KKR’s chase. Salt’s aggressive batting prowess, coupled with Sunil Narine’s quickfire start, propelled KKR towards the 154-run target set by DC. Salt dominated DC’s bowling attack, reaching his half-century in just 26 balls with a spectacular six off Khaleel Ahmed.
Despite Axar Patel’s spin magic, claiming 2 crucial wickets for DC, removing both Narine and Salt, the visitors found their total too low to defend against the relentless onslaught from KKR’s batsmen. Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer forged a crucial partnership and led KKR to a convincing victory.
With this win, KKR has solidified their position at the number two spot in the points table. KKR has won six out of nine games, while DC, on the other hand, has won only five out of eleven matches and currently occupies the sixth spot on the points table.
Earlier in the first innings, Kolkata Knight Riders’ spinner Varun Chakravarthy showcased his brilliance with the ball, taking three wickets to help restrict the Delhi Capitals to a modest total of 153/9
Rishabh Pant and Abishek Porel tried to stabilize Delhi Capitals’ innings after the initial setbacks, with Pant smashing a classic six off Sunil Narine’s bowling. However, Varun Chakravarthy’s double strike in the 11th over dented DC’s hopes further. Despite brief resistance from Porel and Axar Patel, DC struggled to maintain momentum as KKR’s bowlers tightened their grip on the game.
Kuldeep Yadav’s influential cameo towards the end provided Delhi Capitals with a much-needed boost, helping them post a total of 153/9.
Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bat first against the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders. After winning the toss DC captain Rishabh Pant said, “We’ll bat first. The way our team is poised, would look to put a score on the board. Wicket looks slightly on the slower side. Shaw comes back, Kushagra misses out. Rasikh Dar starts in place of Mukesh I guess. Talk is to take one match at the time.”
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer at the toss said, “We were looking to bowl first. Rishabh and I were having a chat – he said ‘we’re looking to bat’ and I said we’re looking to bowl. We’re trying to keep things as simple as possible. When you lose a game like that, scoring 260, it’s easy for people to go away from each other and backbite. But we’re keeping everyone together. Starc and Vaibhav Arora are back.”
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Rasikh Dar Salam, Lizaad Williams, Khaleel Ahmed
