Sharjah: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowlers put on a clinical show to restrict Delhi Capitals (DC) to 127/9 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
For Kolkata, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer and Lockie Ferguson scalped two wickets each while Tim Southee returned with one. For Delhi Capitals, Steve Smith and Rishabh Pant both played knocks of 39 each.
Put in to bat first, Delhi got off to an okayish start as the team gathered 39 runs in the first six overs with a loss of one wicket. Lockie Ferguson sent back Shikhar Dhawan to the dugout in the second last over of the first powerplay. DC opener walked back after scoring 24 off 20 balls.
In the 7th over of the match, Sunil Narine struck and sent former DC skipper Shreyas Iyer back to the hut. Steve Smith was then joined by captain Rishabh Pant on the pitch and the duo started stabilising the ship for Delhi.
After struggling to score runs for a couple of overs, Steve Smith was clean bowled by Lockie Ferguson in the 13th over of the innings. Steve Smith walked back after scoring 39 off 34 balls. Shimron Hetmyer (4 off 5) soon followed the DC opener as Venkatesh Iyer got his first in the next over.
DC soon found themselves in more trouble after Sunil Narine sent back Lalit Yadav for a three-ball duck in the 15th over of the innings. Axar Patel followed Yadav after a five-ball duck in the next over, as Venkatesh Iyer got his second wicket of the match.
DC crossed the 100-run mark after 17 overs as their score read 102/6. Capitals finished with 127/9 after twenty overs as R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, and Kagiso Rabada lost their wickets in the last over of the innings.
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 127/9 (Steve Smith 39, Rishabh Pant 39; Sunil Narine 2-18, Lockie Ferguson 2-10) vs Kolkata Knight Riders.
