The 16th match of the IPL 2020 saw Delhi Capitals (DC) take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Sharjah in a possibly engaging clash. KKR captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and DC were asked to bat first.
DC’s innings saw Shikhar Dhawan (26), Prithvi Shaw (66), and Rishabh Pant (38 in 17 balls) give the DC innings impetus, but it was captain Shreyas Iyer whose 88* in 38 balls with 6 sixes and 7 fours took DC to 228/4. Andre Russell with 2/29 was the best KKR bowler.
In reply, KKR needed to give a strong start, but Sunil Narine as opener failed again, cleaned by Nortje for 3. Gill made 28 and Nitish Rana stabilized the innings somewhat with a 35-ball 58 adorned by 4 fours and 4 sixes. But failures of Russell (13) and captain Karthik (6) added to their misery.
At 122/6 when Pat Cummins got out, KKR needed 107 runs in 40-odd balls. Eoin Morgan (44 in 18 balls; 5x6s) and Rahul Tripathi (36 off 16 balls; 3x4s, 3x6s) sent DC camp into a tensed state by adding 78 runs in just 5 overs, which included Morgan hitting 3 sixes off 3 balls off Kagiso Rabada.
But Nortje removed Morgan and Stoinis removed Tripathi as KKR finished on 210/8, losing the match by 18 runs. Nortje with 3/33 and Harshal with 2/34 were the best bowlers from DC side.
The Cricket fraternity was elated with the performances of both teams and lauded the efforts from the KKR team which had to chase down a mountain target of 229 runs.
Here are their tweets:
