IPL 2024, DC vs KKR: Kolkata Knight Riders ride Sunil Narine's all-round act to crush Delhi Capitals

Kolkata Knight Riders thrash Delhi Capitals (PTI)

Kolkata Knight Riders outplayed Delhi Capitals comprehensively at the AVA-VDCA stadium in Visakhapatnam for their third straight win in the IPL 2024. Delhi Capitals, under the pressure of a daunting task, made hara-kiri of their chase to crash to the IPL’s biggest defeat in chase, going down by 106 runs.

Chasing 273, the hosts were bowled out for 166 in 17 overs and two deliveries. DC had lost their first four wickets for 33 runs and the last five fell for 40. In between the two collapses was the Rishabh Pant-Tristan Stubbs partnership that produced the kind of stuff DD needed throughout their innings.

Match decided in two powerplays

The IPL match was effectively decided in two powerplays as KKR excelled with bat and ball – posting 93/1 in six overs as they batted first and then dismissing the top four DC batters for just 51 within six overs.

DC couldn’t recover from early blows, inflicted in tandem by Mitchell Starc and little heralded Vaibhav Arora, who started the demolition act with the wicket of Prithvi Shaw (10).

Arora and Starc struck alternately for the first four wickets – Shaw (10), Mitchell Marsh (0), Abhishek Porel (0) and Warner (18) – to reduce DC to 33/4 in 4.3 overs.

Mitchell Starc silences critics

Finally, Starc answered the questions around the Rs 24.75 crore contract and his utility for KKR. He was without a wicket in the first two matches. In Vizag, he got precious scalps of fellow Aussies Marsh (0) and Warner.

Pant, Stubbs fight not worth of win

DC skipper Pant (554, 25 b, four 4s, five 6s) and Stubbs (54, 32b, four 4s, four 6s) took on the KKR attack for entertaining half-centuries. But their 93 runs for the fifth wicket stand was insufficient to lift the gloom.

Pant didn’t have liberty to wait for weak deliveries as the asking rate mounted close to 20 runs. The compulsion to keep hitting constantly resulted in Pant’s dismissal. Going for another big heave off Varun Chakravarthy, he skied one to Shreyas Iyer at covers. In the over before his departure, Pant thrashed Venkatesh Iyer for the most expensive over of the match – 4, 6, 6, 4, 4, 4.

Starc 2/25, Arora 3/27, Varun Chakravarthy 3/33, Andre Russell 1/14 and Narine 1/29 inflicted fatal damage to the DC plans after KKR had left the hosts wounded severely with some harsh thrashing with the willow.

It was Sunil Narine vs DC

Opting to bat first, Kolkata Knight Riders won’t have asked for more from Sunil Narine, the opener with a designated role to go for the kill without caring for his wicket. None of the seven runs from the first over bowled by Khaleel Ahmed came off the bat. Narine had just one run against his name in KKR’s 17 after two over.

Then Narine set Vizag on fire by smashing DC veteran Ishant Sharma for 6, 6, 4, 0, 6, 4 to set the tempo for KKR’s best IPL innings ever. Tone was set for KKR’s formidable total and it became KKR vs Narine battle till his departure in the 13th over.

DC bowlers lacked plan to hold Narine

Narine, mostly standing with his front leg out of the way, was severe on the balls pitched in his range. DC never tried to test him with wide stuff. Narine struggled to connect anything wide outside off. The DC bowler didn't try that ploy with a purpose. They also lacked in using two permitted bouncers effectively. Narine gradually put the home team on defensive.

The Caribbean all-rounder rushed to his half century off 21 balls, lifting KKR to 93/1 in powerplay. DC had conceded just 17 in the first two. Narine changed the course of the game thereafter. He fell short of a well deserved century, but KKR couldn’t have asked for anything more than Narine’s whirlwind 85 (39b, seven 6s, seven 4s).

Narine’s fireworks completely overshadowed the 27-ball 54 (five 4s, three 5s) by Angkrish Ranghuvanshi, who had matched his more illustrious partner run by run, stroke by stroke in the 104 runs second wicket stand for KKR.

Rinku, Russell join to the party

DC were allowed only four fielders outside the circle in the last two overs due to their slow over. That allowed Rinku Singh to swing his arms around freely. The penultimate over of the innings cost Anrich Nortje and KKR 25 runs. Had Rinku not connected Nortje way outside the off stump four fours and sixes, the balls would have been adjudged wide. He fell off the last ball of the over, his 26 coming off just eight deliveries with a four and three sixes, a phenomenal 325 strike rate.

Russell doesn’t miss an opportunity to flourish with the bat. In the run storm for KKR, the Caribbean veteran slammed 41 off just 19 balls (four 4s, three 6s).

Brilliant last over by Ishant Sharma

With Russell on strike and KKR on 264, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s record for highest innings total of 277 was under threat within a week’s time. Ishant, who had conceded 35 without success in his previous two, bowled the brilliant last over.

He floored Russell, literally, off the first ball, virtually a laser-guided yorker. Breaks well applied on KKR onslaught with two wickets and just eight runs from the over. But that all came to the fore a little too late. Damage had been done before that. KKR’s 272/7 is the second highest innings total in the IPL history.