IPL 2019: DC vs KKR - Three masterstrokes that helped Delhi win against Kolkata

In the 10th match of the tournament, Delhi Capitals hosted Kolkata Knight Riders at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Delhi Skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss & decided to bowl first. KKR made one change to their team while Delhi made four changes.

KKR got off to a very slow start. The new opener Nikhil Naik played many dot balls and eventually got out. It started a collapse. KKR were 5/59 in 9 overs. Skipper Dinesh Karthik was looking in good touch and he was joined by Andre Russell.

Both played a few overs cautiously but once they got set, especially Russell, he absolutely hammered the Delhi bowlers. No bowler was spared. His fantastic knock and Karthik’s sensible batting got KKR to 185/6 when at a point it looked like they might get only 150.

In reply, Prithvi Shaw started on a superb note. Shikhar Dhawan departed after a couple of boundaries but Shaw formed a very good partnership with Shreyas Iyer. Iyer got out and Shaw was joined by Rishabh Pant. Shaw continued his onslaught. He played some delightful strokes all around the park. Unfortunately, he was undone by a short ball and got out on 99. Some sensible bowling from KKR and irresponsible batting saw Delhi fail to score 6 runs in last over and the match was tied.

Prasidh Krishna for KKR did a great job and conceded only 10 runs in super over. In reply, Kagiso Rabada bowled a fantastic over of pace bowling versus Russell and Karthik and successfully defended the target.

Here are three masterstrokes by Delhi to win this game.

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#1 Good selection calls

Four changes by skipper Shreyas Iyer did wonders in the end. Image Courtesy: BCCI/IPLT20.COM

Delhi Capitals made 4 changes to their team. Chris Morris replaced Keemo Paul, Sandip Lamichhane came in for Axar Patel while Harshal Patel replaced Ishant Sharma and Hanuma Vihari replaced Rahul Tewatia.

A few eyebrows were raised because of Harshal Patel's selection but he did well. Though Patel went for 40 runs in 4 overs, it was due to his expensive last over. Before that over, he hardly gave anything away to the batsmen. He bowled right lines-lengths and changed his pace very wisely. Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana have been in great form and Patel got both of them out.

Not playing Sandeep Lamichhane playing in first two matches was a surprising call by Delhi. Finally, they picked him and he showed his worth. Despite expensive last over, he finished at 29/1 in 4 overs. It was his and Patel's spell which triggered KKR's collapse in first 10 overs.

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#2 Prithvi Shaw's fantastic knock

Prithvi Shaw played a brilliant knock to help Delhi close to the victory. Image courtesy: BCCI/IPLT20.COM

Delhi was chasing 186. This was not going to be an easy target. The pitch at Kotla isn't an easy pitch to bat on. Delhi needed an extraordinary performance by one of their batsmen to chase down this target. Before that, they needed a great powerplay.

Shikhar Dhawan looked in good touch fall soon but Prithvi Shaw was in terrific form. He was then joined by Shreyas Iyer. Iyer was slow off the blocks but made sure they don't lose any more wickets. Shaw on the other end was playing a blinder. Spin or pace, every bowler was smashed.

Unfortunately, he was dismissed on 99 and missed the chance to be the youngest ever centurion in IPL. But the damage to KKR was already done. Delhi couldn't close out despite having a relatively easy target in the hand in the last few overs and it further shows the importance of Shaw's knock.

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#3 Kagiso Rabada's brilliant super over

Rabada bowled a brilliant Super over to help DC win super over. Image Courtesy: BCCI/IPLT20.COM

Some poor batting in last few overs by Delhi Capitals cost them and they could only tie the match when they were in a winning position. The match was going to be decided in a super over

Prasidh Krishna was bowling that over from KKR and he bowled very well. Conceded only 1 boundary, he gave away only 10 runs. Kagiso Rabada was assigned that job from Delhi's side. Batsmen on the opposite end were the in-form Karthik and Russell. It was going to be a tough job. Rabada's first bowl missed the mark by an inch and Russell got four.

Rabada made a superb comeback by bowling a yorker on next ball. On the third ball, he bowled an absolute ripper. It was a yorker on middle stump which knocked over Russell's stumps. He maintained his composure and bowled three more very good balls to finish off the match. Rabada became the first bowler to defend 10 or fewer runs in a super-over in the IPL.

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