IPL 2022: Knightmare comes true for Kolkata

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Kolkata Knight Riders’ strength this season have been their pacers picking wickets in powerplay and spinners — Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine — choking the run-rate in middle-overs.

Umesh Yadav had bowled 11 overs for 51 runs, taking six wickets in the four games so far. Chakravarthy had operated at 6.43 runs per over while Narine had conceded only 4.75 runs per over. But, as they went up against Delhi Capitals, it seemed like the best of their attack could be playing into the hands of their opponents.

For starters, it was a day game, which meant the pacers had no help whatsoever from the conditions. Then there was Prithvi Shaw, the best batter in the first six overs this season — 76 runs in three innings while striking at 161.7 up until this clash.

If all this wasn’t enough, they couldn’t use spin against David Warner like other left-handers early on as he feasts on them. Warner averages 87.28 against spin in their powerplay with a strike rate of 139.81 across 80 innings. It seemed like the battle was lost on match-ups before the contest even began.

And that is exactly what happened as Warner and Shaw tore apart the Shreyas Iyer-led side at Brabourne stadium after being put into bat on Sunday afternoon. While the latter took a particular liking to Umesh, hitting 20 runs in his first two overs, Warner took care of his Australian counterpart, Pat Cummins, welcoming him with back-to-back boundaries. Shaw continued his onslaught, pulling Cummins over square-leg to bring up the 50-run stand in just four overs.

Sticking to their game plan, Shreyas brought on Chakravarthy next. But, Warner, as expected, was all over the mystery spinner. It took just one delivery for the veteran to deposit Chakravarthy into the stands. As Delhi were flying at 11.8 runs per over, Shreyas had just one trump card in his pocket — Narine.

But much to Kolkata’s misery, the West Indian was up against the two batters, who have dominated whenever they faced him: Shaw (166.66 SR, 0 dismissals) and Warner (average 83, SR 156.6). The duo brought out the reverse-laps and sweeps, taking on one of the best spinners in the history of the league. It felt like Kolkata’s worst nightmare came true.

Shreyas had nowhere to go at this point. All that was left in his armour was Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer. Delhi kept the momentum going as Shaw brought up his half-century first in 27 balls. He eventually got out to Chakravarthy, but the damage was done as they had cruised to 93 for nil in 8.3 overs. Rishabh Pant wasted no time in settling down, smashing a 14-ball 27. Narine made inroads at the other end, but Warner was going strong, registering his first fifty of the season.

Kolkata did manage to take a few wickets against the run of play. At one point, they had pulled things back a bit. Delhi were 167/5after 17 overs with Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel in the middle. It seemed like Kolkata still had a chance.

But, as seen in the past, Kolkata’s best bowling phase was done and dusted. Their death bowling record is no secret — 11.06 average economy in overs 16-20 this year. And Sunday was no different. By the time Thakur and Patel helped Delhi register the highest total of the season so far 215/5, scoring 48 runs from the last three, the contest was all but over unless Russell pulled off a heist. Delhi managed to prevent that as Kuldeep took a four-fer against his former team, helping them win by 44 runs.

Brief scores: DC 215/5  in 20 ovs (Warner 61, Shaw 51) beat KKR 171 in 19.4 ovs (Shreyas 54; Kuldeep 4/35).