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The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) got back to winning ways in IPL 2024 with a dominant performance against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Eden Gardens on Monday, April 29.
After being asked to bowl first by Delhi, the Kolkata bowlers were on top from the get-go as they kept picking wickets at regular intervals. Varun Chakravarthy (3/16) was the pick of the bowlers, helping his team restrict the Capitals to 153/9.
Any hopes of DC's comeback were dashed by Phil Salt (68 off 33) as KKR comfortably won the game with 21 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand. On that note, let's take a look at three moments in the game that grabbed the attention of fans on social media:
#3 Mitchell Starc wins battle against Jake Fraser-McGurk
Veteran Australian speedster Mitchell Starc has had a pretty poor IPL season so far, leaking almost 12 runs per over. He came back into the XI on Monday and was taken to the cleaners by the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Jake Fraser-McGurk.
The Australian prodigy's sensational 84 helped DC win their previous game against Mumbai Indians. KKR would have known that Fraser-McGurk was the big wicket they needed early. Despite being hit for a six and a boundary, Starc persisted with his plan and it paid off as Fraser-McGurk was caught at deep square leg.
With the explosive batter back in the shed, Delhi failed to build any momentum in their innings. While he was expensive, Starc gave Kolkata the wicket they desperately needed early on.
#2 Varun Chakravarthy finally has his man Rishabh Pant again
Varun Chakravarthy had a great match-up against DC captain Rishabh Pant in the IPL, having already dismissed the latter twice before. On the very first ball of his spell on Monday, Chakravarthy could have made it three dismissals had he received the support from his fielder.
Pant tried to play the scoop shot behind fine leg, but could only lob it towards the short third-man region. Harshit Rana had enough time to position himself, but he still made a hash of the catch, much to Chakravarthy's disappointment.
However, the drop didn't prove to be too costly as the KKR spinner eventually dismissed Pant. When the southpaw was on 27, he tried to play the slog sweep and ended up handing a simple catch to Shreyas Iyer at short cover. Varun Chakravarthy also picked up the wickets of Tristan Stubbs and Kumar Kushagra and ended up with stunning figures of 3/16.
#1 Phil applying Salt to DC's wounds
KKR's explosive opening duo of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine got their team off to a fantastic start in the chase, adding 80 runs for the loss of no wickets in the powerplay. However, the start could have been a whole lot worse had Salt not been given a life by DC fielders.
After plundering 23 runs off the bowling of Lizaad Williams in the first over, Salt wanted to have a piece of Khaleel Ahmed as well. The left-arm pacer deceived Salt into playing a false shot and the ball went high in the air, but Williams made an absolute hash of the opportunity.
That was a crucial moment in the game, as Phil Salt seemed to have received the license from KKR to express himself. He smashed boundaries at will and gave no breathing space to the opposition whatsoever. The dropped catch and the sixes that followed summed up DC's evening at the Eden Gardens.
