IPL 2020, Match 16 – Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders – Iyer, Shaw fifties help DC prevail in yet another high-scoring game at Sharjah

A last-ditch onslaught from Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi was not enough for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to evade defeat to the Delhi Capitals (DC) in yet another high-scoring game at Sharjah in the 16th match of the 2020 IPL, the margin being 18 runs. DC openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan got their […]
 

A last-ditch onslaught from Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi was not enough for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to evade defeat to the Delhi Capitals (DC) in yet another high-scoring game at Sharjah in the 16th match of the 2020 IPL, the margin being 18 runs.

DC openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan got their team off to a flier after KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik invited them to bat on a flat surface. Shaw impressed one and all with a world-class display of stroke-play against Cummins, Mavi, and Chakravarthy, while Dhawan, taking a while to settle in, teed off against the spin of Chakravarthy and Narine. Chakravarthy broke through first for KKR against the run of play, inducing a top-edge from Dhawan which was well-pouched by Morgan. Dhawan’s wicket did not deter Shaw to the slightest, as he went on to register a second half-century in this IPL with a towering six off Nagarkoti in the 11th over.

A masterclass of hitting sixes against spinners followed from Shreyas Iyer, who, much like Dhawan, started to get going having got his eye in. Shaw’s wicket in the 13th over brought Pant to the crease, and from a couple of overs later, it was carnage. Despite an excellent last over from Russell, KKR ended up conceding their highest total in the IPL, with Shreyas Iyer remaining unbeaten on 88 having faced 38 deliveries. The last 5 overs fetched 77 runs for the Delhi Capitals, who set a humongous but achievable target of 229 for KKR.

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Despite a couple of sixes from Rana off Ashwin in the 3rd over, the KKR batsmen seemed to lack the intent of chasing such a target down, evident from the score reading 47 at the 5-over mark with Shubman Gill being well set. The Firozpur-born opener departed in the 9th over, top-edging a flighted delivery outside off stump from Amit Mishra which was gobbled up by Pant. KKR suffered a bigger blow next over, losing Andre Russell to a short ball from Rabada. Trying to smash him over square leg, Russell got a top-edge as well, and was caught by Nortje at third man.

To make matters worse for themselves, skipper Dinesh Karthik walked in ahead of Morgan and Rahul Tripathi and showed no intention of going big straightaway. He and Rana departed off successive deliveries, both caught, and the match seemed to be firmly in DC’s grasp. Tripathi finally walked in at 8 and made a statement to his team with a late but effective assault that helped the momentum shift towards KKR going into the death overs. He took 22 off the Marcus Stoinis-bowled 17th over, followed by a 23-run over from Rabada which had three consecutive, clean sixes from Morgan off the first three deliveries. From being completely down and out of the game after Russell’s departure, KKR required just over 15 runs each from the last two overs of the game.

Sadly for them, Eoin Morgan, who was striking the ball so well until then, holed out to Shimron Hetmyer at square off Anrich Nortje. With 26 required off the last over from Stoinis, Tripathi kept the game alive with a boundary first ball, only for the Australian all-rounder to come back strongly and knock his stumps over with a slower yorker next ball. Despite the late surge from the KKR middle-lower order, DC managed to latch on to an 18-run victory at the end.

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Factors that helped DC win today

Openers laying an excellent platform for middle-order

Prithvi Shaw laid the foundation for the DC middle-order, who cashed in on the same big time

Prithvi Shaw has come quite a long way from throwing his wicket away in DC’s first 2020 IPL game against the Kings XI Punjab. He has abandoned the frantic approach of slogging every delivery out of the park and played proper Cricketing shots, timing the ball to perfection which fetched him a bucketload of runs. Anything that was pitched short was viciously pulled over deep mid-wicket irrespective of the bowler’s stature. His partner, Shikhar Dhawan, who has been guilty of taking too much time to settle in, therefore exerting additional pressure on the 2018 U19 World Cup-winning captain, went after the spinners himself, which meant that quick runs came from both ends, and DC boasted of a run rate above ten going to the end of the powerplay, in the process building the perfect platform for what followed.

Amit Mishra’s 2-over spell

When a leg-spinner, bowling to a well-set stroke-maker and a left-hander, concedes 2 off his first over with the opposition chasing a mammoth target, half the job gets done for the bowling side right there. Amit Mishra, who has been extremely miser in the IPL matches that he has played in so far this year, conceded only 14 off his two overs tonight, not going for a single boundary until his tenth delivery. The fact that he could not take a wicket in his first over actually helped him get another over, with Nitish Rana, a left-hander, literally playing him out in his first over. Mishra did get the wicket of Shubman Gill eventually, but was not given another over after that, mainly due to the fact that Nitish Rana was still out there, and KKR still had Eoin Morgan in the sheds.

Bringing Rabada back into the attack for Russell

It cost him a four and a six, but Kagiso Rabada, having been brought back into the attack midway through the chase, did complete the job assigned to him, take the wicket of the menacing Andre Russell, the one batsman in the KKR line-up who could help his side chase down a target from an impossible situation. Today’s game proved that the one bowler in the entire World of Cricket who can expose Andre Russell’s weaknesses the best is Rabada. He had done it to perfection once before, and he did it today as well; having gone for 10 runs in the over already, he courageously went for a rapid short-pitched delivery aimed at Russell’s body. Russell, cramped for room, could neither middle it nor keep it down, as he managed a top-edge that was safely held on to by Rabada’s countryman, Anrich Nortje at third man.