Agency
New Delhi: Young batsman Karun Nair and debutant Sam Billings batted with lot of responsibility before their bowlers came good as Delhi Daredevils displaced Kolkata Knight Riders from the second spot with a comfortable 27-run win in their IPL match, here on Saturday. The hosts overcame loss of two wickets in the first over to post a challenging 186 for eight after being invited to bat and skittled out the visitors for 159 with nine balls to spare at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground. Thanks to fighting half-centuries by Nair (68 off 50 balls) and Billings (54 off 34 balls) combined with Carlos Brathwaite’s (34 off 11) finishing touches, Daredevils’ innings shaped well as they registered their best total against KKR.
Brathwaite also took three wickets when Daredevils bowled as the West Indian broke the KKR middle order.
It was first defeat for KKR in this tournament while chasing as except opener Robin Uthappa (72 off 52) no other batsman showed resistance. Both Nair and Billings impressed with their batting as they desisted from swinging the bat wildly, playing proper cricketing shots. They were comfortable against both pacers and spinners, building the innings with smart cricket.
Braithwaite played true to his big-hitting reputation by smashing 34 with three sixes and as many fours to ensure that the hosts end with a bang.
KKR had packed their attack with three spinners but they could not make an impression. Only Brad Hogg completed his quota of four overs and combined with Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla, the trio conceded 85 runs in nine over.
Andre Russell was the most impressive KKR bowler with figures of 4-0-26-3 while Umesh Yadav (3\33) also picked three wickets.
Zaheer Khan did exactly what he was expected to do after not-so-great performance in the previous matches by bowling with a lot of venom and taking two early wickets. He had rival skipper Gautam Gambhir (6) caught off a leading edge at covers and trapped Piyush Chawla (8), who was promoted up the order. (PTI)
Score Board
Delhi Daredevils innings
Q de Kock† c Hogg b Russell 01
SS Iyer lbw b Russell 00
SV Samson lbw b Narine 15
KK Nair lbw b UT Yadav 68
SW Billings b UT Yadav 54
CH Morris b UT Yadav 00
CR Brathwaite c Narine b Russell 34
RR Pant run out (SA Yadav/†Uthappa) 04
Mohammed Shami not out 00
Extras 10, Total 186/8
Kolkata Knight Riders
RV Uthappa† c Nair b Morris 72
G Gambhir* c Iyer b Khan 06
PP Chawla lbw b Khan 08
YK Pathan c Mishra b Brathwaite 10
SA Yadav c Iyer b Brathwaite 21
R Sathish c Morris b Brathwaite 06
AD Russell c & b Mishra 17
JO Holder run out (Morris) 00
UT Yadav c Morris b Khan 02
SP Narine run out (Iyer) 04
GB Hogg not out 00
Extras 13, Total 159/10
