New Delhi, Apr 29: Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc picked 3-42, while Vipraj Nigam and captain Axar Patel took two wickets each as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) posted 204/9 in their 20 overs against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.

On a pitch that didn’t offer much grip and was good to bat on, KKR had their batters producing quick knocks at a great strike rate and were also aided by DC conceding 15 extras. But they lost their way in the middle overs against DC’s spin troika and then made only 45 in the last five overs.

It would be interesting to see if DC, after pulling things back in the post-powerplay phase, chase down the total, especially if dew comes into the picture. They also need to see if Axar can bat after hurting his left hand while fielding.

KKR began with a bang as Rahmanullah Gurbaz drilled Starc for boundaries through mid-off and cover-point. Sunil Narine took a liking to Dushmantha Chameera dishing out fuller balls and on pads to take him for two sixes and a four, with the one-handed maximum being the standout, as 25 runs came off the second over.

Gurbaz continued to make merry against Starc by getting two fours and a six behind square, with the steer past short third being a standout. But Starc eventually had the last laugh as Gurbaz edged a yorker behind to the keeper and fell for 26. Narine brought up KKR’s fastest fifty of the season by pulling Mukesh Kumar for four before skipper Ajinkya Rahane dazzled.

Against Starc’s experiments, Rahane was at his glorious best – pulling over square leg for six and flicking through mid-wicket for four. Against Mukesh, Rahane cashed on the width by punching and slicing through the off-side on consecutive balls, as KKR signed off from power-play at 79/1.

After that, DC made a mini comeback as Narine tried a quicker ball from leg-spinner Nigam, but was trapped lbw for 27. Axar then came in to bowl four overs on the trot and make more inroads – his slider kept straight to trap Rahane lbw for 26, and a non-turning ball accounted for Venkatesh Iyer, who miscued a slog to cover.

Amidst all this, Raghuvanshi tried putting pressure on DC by unfurling two gorgeous sixes down the ground off Nigam – one going straight down the ground, while the other was dispatched over a long-on fence.

In his final over, Axar had appealed for a catch down leg off Rinku but didn’t get much support from keeper Abishek Porel. Replays later showed that Rinku would have been caught out, as an edge was detected.

Rinku made the most of the lucky reprieve by pulling Kuldeep Yadav off the backfoot for four, before dancing down the pitch to take a four and six off him. The 61-run stand for the fifth wicket was broken by Chameera as Raghuvanshi sliced his slower leg-cutter to deep cover and fell for 44.

In the next over, Rinku fell for 36 as he holed out to long-on off Nigam. Andre Russell slapped Chameera’s full and wide balls for two boundaries in the 19th over – one of which came off a misfield in the deep.

Russell then muscled Starc for a jaw-dropping maximum down the ground to take KKR beyond 200, before the pacer trapped Rovman Powell lbw with a pinpoint yorker. Chameera then pulled off a superman-like catch to dismiss Anukul Roy, before Russell was run out for 17.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders 204/9 in 20 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44, Rinku Singh 36; Mitchell Starc 3-42, Axar Patel 2-27) against Delhi Capitals

--IANS

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