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Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by four wickets in yesterday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Bowling first, DC did a great job of restricting KKR for 127. Captain David Warner (57 off 41) then guided Delhi’s chase. However, they lost their way in the second half before sneaking home in 19.2 overs.
Warner began in aggressive mode and struck five boundaries in the first three overs. Prithvi Shaw’s poor run with the bat, though, continued. He was bowled by Varun Chakravarthy for 13 as he tried to cut a good length delivery. Warner then went after Sunil Narine in the last over of the powerplay, whacking him for four fours.
KKR, though, stayed in the game as Delhi kept losing wickets from one end. Mitchell Marsh (2) was caught at long-off off Nitish Rana, while Phil Salt (5) chipped a return catch to Anukul Roy. Kolkata’s hopes got a major fillip when Chakravarthy trapped Warner lbw as the DC captain missed his reverse sweep.
Manish Pandey (21) chipped a tossed-up delivery from Anukul to long-on, while Aman Hakim Khan was cleaned up by Rana for a duck.
Axar Patel (19* off 22), though, survived some nervous moments to lift Delhi to their first win in IPL 2023. The winning runs came off a free hit from Kulwant Khejroliya as Axar lofted a full-toss for a couple.
Clinical DC restrict KKR to 127
Ishant Sharma (2-19), Anrich Nortje (2-20), Axar (2-13) and Kuldeep Yadav (2-15) combined to bowl out Kolkata for 127 in 20 overs.
Litton Das (4) was the first to go, spooning a catch off Mukesh Kumar to square leg. The soft dismissal set the tone of KKR’s innings. Venkatesh Iyer (0) edged a pacy delivery from Nortje to slip, while Rana (4) holed out to mid-on off Ishant.
Mandeep Singh (12) attempted a reverse-hit, only to be cleaned up by Axar, while Rinku Singh (6) chipped the left-arm spinner to deep square leg. Narine fell to Ishant for 4.
Opener Jason Roy batted well for his 43 off 39. His knock ended, though, when he top-edged a sweep off Kuldeep to backward square leg. Kuldeep had two in two when Anukul was trapped lbw first ball.
When Nortje had Umesh Yadav (3), KKR had slipped to 96-9. Andre Russell (38* off 31), though, slammed Mukesh Kumar for three consecutive sixes in the last over to give Kolkata’s total a semblance of respectability.
DC vs KKR: Who Won Player of the Match in yesterday's IPL 2023 game?
Ishant, Nortje, Axar and Kuldeep claimed two wickets apiece for Delhi. Axar also chipped in with an unbeaten 19. Captain Warner top-scored in the chase with a fluent 57.
For the Knight Riders, Roy scored 43 and Russell 38*. Chakaravarthy, Anukul and Rana claimed two wickets apiece while keeping things tight. However, pacer Ishant Sharma was named the Player of the Match for his probing spell.
