IPL 2023, Delhi Capitals (DC) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Ishant Sharma's 2-19, Axar Patel-Kuldeep Yadav's combined 4-28 and David Warner's 57 are top performances. Delhi beat Kolkata and register first win of the season.
Brief Scores: DC 128/6 (Warner 57, Manish 21, Chakravarthy 2/16) beat KKR 127 (Roy 43, Russell 38, Axar 2-13) by 4 wickets.
Player Of The Match: Ishant Sharma (2/19)
A winless Delhi Capitals looked to repair their campaign when they hosted the inconsistent Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in what was a rare double-header on a weekday in this IPL edition.
Strategic Masterstroke Of DC Outplays KKR to Secure Win With Smart Precision
Persistent rain forced a delay in the game's start and to make the best of conditions, David Warner chose DC will field first. They made 3 changes with Ishant Sharma making his IPL comeback after 2 years and Phil Salt making his IPL debut. KKR made 4 changes with an overhaul in the opening combo as Jason Roy and Litton Das made their first appearance this year.
Chasing a lowly 128 to win their first game of the season, DC were off to a flyer for a change and skipper David Warner was the one who played the enforcer’s role. Shaw failed yet again, but Warner made sure it didn’t affect DC’s chances. He took on almost all of KKR’s bowlers and was severe on Narine who was taken for 17 runs in the 6th over as they ended power plays at 61/1, almost reaching half of the target.
In the end, it was Axar Patel (19* from 22) despite not being at his fluent best on a slow wicket, who scampered a win for his side with 4 balls to spare.
Read More: IPL 2023, RCB vs DC: Kohli's half-century and exceptional fielding secure win for RCB against DC
Talking Points: Kolkata’s batting order change didn’t help them one-bit
KKR’s major concern this season has been batting inconsistency from its top order and it continued once again. But this time, a new pair opened for KKR as Litton Das and Jason Roy. They changed the batting outlook of the KKR which did reasonably well in their previous game at Wankhede.
Gurbaz was replaced as was Jagadeesan but did they achieve the desired result, the answer is no. The top order including the inform Iyer and skipper Nitish Rana failed as KKR’s batting innings went nowhere. Their bowling line-up also changed and these are signs of a less confident side who are pressing the panic button.
Let us scan the key performances of the DC vs KKR game of IPL 2023
Ishant Sharma makes an impact on his IPL return
The last time Ishant Sharma played IPL was back in the 2021 edition and its been almost 2 years since he has taken the field in IPL. Back in DC colors, Ishant produced a gem of an opening spell on his return by bowling 3 overs in the powerplay and giving away just 14 runs taking the important wicket of KKR skipper Nitish Rana and his tight bowling meant KKR scored only 35 in the first 6 overs.
He returned to take the wicket of Sunil Narine in the 12th over and finished with a brilliant bowling figure of 2/19 off his over. This came when DC needed someone to inspire them in the bowling department and Ishant did just that.
Read More: IPL 2023, MI vs KKR: Mumbai bash Kolkata in a high scoring encounter as Iyer's ton goes in vain
Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav dent KKR with a combined spell of 4/28
Axar Patel has been the shining light for DC in this otherwise forgettable campaign and he made most of the impact for the team as a lower-order batter but with the ball, he had only taken 2 wickets in the 5 games prior to this. Kuldeep Yadav was economical but had picked only 4 wickets before this match.
But come to this crucial clash, the spin twins bought their A game after a good start provided by the Pacers. They picked two wickets each with Axar first castling Mandeep Singh before snapping the important wicket of in-form Rinku Singh, while Kuldeep removed the only KKR batsman who got a start, Jason Roy.
Read More: IPL 20 23, DC vs MI: MI win their first game; DC continue to suffer due to Warner's low SR
David Warner’s blitz takes DC to a nervy maiden win in IPL 2023
The DC skipper may have scored 3 half-centuries and over 200 runs this IPL season but according to the standards he has set for himself, David Warner as a batter has been a mixed bag. Though he might have scored 220 odd runs, an average of over 40 his strike rate was on the lower side of around 120. This is something unusual for a player like Warner.
But in this must-win game, Warner came into the chase with a positive mindset, and this rubbed into his innings at Delhi. He made 45 off DCs 61 in the power plays before reaching his 59th IPL fifty in only 33 balls.
What’s Next and Points Table
DC has finally opened its account and even after this win, they have a lot to do. They will face SRH twice in 5 days, with the first one coming away from home at Hyderabad on April 24th. KKR are at 8th with 4 points after 6 games with their next game slated to be against CSK at Eden Gardens on the 23rd.
Read More: IPL 2023: David Warner averages 52.66, but his strike rate of 117.04 is a big worry for DC
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