A superb batting effort by Prithvi Shaw ensured that Delhi Capitals registered an emphatic win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the 25th match of IPL 2021 played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Delhi Capitals captain Pant won the toss and decided to field first. Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana started off to a decent start. After being hit for a six by Rana, Axar Patel was clever enough to deliver a wide ball and was stumped by Pant coming down the track. Rahul Tripathi struggled with his timing, but Gill showed some intent to hit boundaries. At the end of the first six overs, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 45 for 1.
After the field restrictions, Gill and Tripathi showed some intent to put pressure back on Delhi Capitals bowlers. At the end of the first timeout, KKR made 65 for 1. Stoinis struck off his second ball getting rid of Tripathi providing an easy catch to Lalit Yadav. Tripathi and Gill added 44 runs for the 2nd wicket. Lalit Yadav did the damage for Delhi Capitals getting wickets of Eoin Morgan and Sunil Narine in one over. Morgan tried to hit the inside-out shot but was caught by Smith while Narine was cleaned up.
Shubman Gill's struggle came to an end as he chucked a simple catch to Smith to leave KKR in trouble. At the end of the second timeout, KKR scored 86 for 5. Dinesh Karthik showed some intent hitting some shots before Axar Patel dismissed him trying to hit a reverse sweep. Andre Russell showed his immense hitting power smacking 2 sixes and 1 four off Avesh Khan in the 19th over. He ended the KKR innings with a six-off Avesh Khan to help KKR post 154 for 6. Russell and Cummins added 45 runs for the 7th wicket.
Chasing 155 runs to win, Prithvi Shaw started the innings with 6 boundaries in the first over off Shivam Mavi putting KKR under immense pressure. Dhawan also showed his class by hitting boundaries. Shaw was severe on the bad balls and kept the scoreboard ticking. At the end of the first six overs, Delhi Capitals raced away to 67 for 0.
Shaw kept the pressure on KKR bowlers and never allowed them to settle. At the end of the first timeout, Delhi Capitals made 71 for 0. After the timeout, Shaw reached his fifty off just 18 balls and maintained the momentum for DC with his timing. On the other hand, Dhawan scored at ease giving good support to Shaw. Despite some tight bowling, Shaw and Dhawan looked comfortable hitting boundaries with ease. At the end of the second timeout, DC scored 123 for 0.
Pat Cummins finally broke through for KKR getting the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan ending a sensational 132 runs opening partnership. DC captain Pant promoted himself to number 3 and hit some lovely shots. Pat Cummins dismissed Shaw and Pant in the end. Marcus Stoinis smashed a boundary to help Delhi Capitals register an emphatic 7 wicket win.
Delhi Capitals 156 for 3 in 16.3 overs (Shaw 82, Dhawan 46, Cummins 3/24) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 154 for 6 in 20 overs (Russell 45*, Gill 43, Lalit Yadav 2/13, Patel 2/32) by 7 wickets.
With this win, Delhi Capitals moved to 2nd in the points table with a better run rate. For his brilliant 82 off 41 balls, Prithvi Shaw was named the man of the match award.
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