5 best bowling performances in DC vs KKR matches in IPL history ft. Varun Chakravarthy

The Delhi Capitals (DC) will be hosting the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 16 of the IPL 2024 season in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, April 3. The hosts beat the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their previous encounter and finally had their first win following a couple of losses.

Kolkata, on the other hand, are the only unbeaten team in the league alongside Rajasthan Royals. Shreyas Iyer and his men have won both their games so far and the skipper, in particular, may have a point to prove against his former franchise.

It promises to be a cracking game but not necessarily a runfest as both teams have some quality bowlers in their ranks. On that note, let's take a look at five of the best bowling performances when these two teams have faced off in the IPL in the past:

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#5 Piyush Chawla, 4/32, IPL 2015

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla had an all-round contribution when the Knight Riders faced the Delhi Daredevils (former name of Delhi Capitals) at the Eden Gardens in IPL 2015. He first made a handy 22 off 19 balls as KKR posted a competitive total of 171/7.

Then, Chawla made massive dents in Delhi's chase with the wickets of Manoj Tiwary, JP Duminy, Kedar Jadhav, and Yuvraj Singh. Angelo Mathews and Saurabh Tiwary tried their best with handy cameos down the order, but they could only manage to take their team to 158/6, handing Kolkata a win by 13 runs.

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#4 Kuldeep Yadav, 4/14, IPL 2022

Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav had broken through the ranks at KKR but was eventually released in 2021 after a painful last couple of seasons there. He was picked up by DC in the IPL 2022 auction and couldn't have asked for a better chance at redemption when he faced his former franchise at the Wankhede Stadium.

Despite a fine half-century from Nitish Rana, KKR could only manage 146/9, thanks to sensational figures of 4/14 from Kuldeep in his three overs. DC chased down the total with six balls to spare and four wickets in hand, with Kuldeep receiving the Player of the Match award.

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#3 Sunil Narine, 4/13, IPL 2013

Star spinner Sunil Narine continues to be the spearhead of KKR's bowling attack for more than a decade and his best performance against Delhi came during the 2013 edition of the league. Mahela Jayawardene's 66 off 52 was the only saving grace to what otherwise was a disappointing batting performance from the Daredevils.

With wickets of David Warner, Irfan Pathan, Andre Russell, and Ashish Nehra, Narine picked up sensational figures of 4/13. The target of 129 wasn't really going to challenge the KKR batting line-up as they won the game in the 19th over with six wickets in hand.

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#2 Shoaib Akhtar, 4/11, IPL 2008

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar was known to have the ability to break the back of batting line-ups with his sheer pace and he did the same for KKR during the inaugural edition of the IPL at the Eden Gardens. Kolkata had posted just 133/6 in their 20 overs and needed a strong bowling performance to defend the modest total.

Akhtar gave the hosts the best possible start by sending back Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers, and Manoj Tiwary and left the Daredevils tottering at 28/4 in the powerplay. While Delhi had some decent partnerships, they just couldn't recover from Akhtar's carnage and were bundled out for 110.

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#1 Varun Chakravarthy, 5/20, IPL 2020

The best performance with the ball when these two teams faced off came from Varun Chakravarthy during the IPL 2020 season. After not getting enough game time at Kings XI Punjab, Chakravarthy got his second chance at KKR and he grabbed it with both hands. Nitish Rana's 81 and Sunil Narine's quickfire 64 helped Kolkata post a mammoth 194/6 in their 20 overs.

While DC had the batting to chase down the total, Chakravarthy was just too good and didn't let the opposition get any momentum in their innings. He dismantled the spine of Delhi's batting by sending back their entire middle-order and lower middle-order consisting of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, and Axar Patel.

Delhi could only manage 135/9 and Chakravarthy was a simple choice for the Plyer of the Match for his stunning figures of 5/20.