Delhi Capitals skipper David Warner gave credit to the bowling unit after their four-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Thursday. This was Delhi Capitals’ maiden win of the season, and with it, they ended their five-match losing streak.
KKR were skittled out for a below-par score of 127 by a spirited bowling performance from the home bowlers on a pitch, which had bounce for the seamers and also assistance for the spinners.
Mukesh Kumar, Anrich Nortje, and Ishant Sharma made early inroads as they took one wicket each in the PowerPlay to put the visitors on the back foot. Subsequently, Axar Patel had Mandeep Singh and dangerous Rinku Singh, and then Kuldeep Yadav also accounted for Jason Roy and Anukul Roy.
KKR could not get going in their batting innings as Delhi Capitals kept taking wickets at regular intervals.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals’ got off to a good start as David Warner finally was able to bat like himself. The left-hander scored 57 runs from 41 balls with the help of 11 fours but the home team kept losing wickets at the other end after a decent start in the PowerPlay overs.
However, Delhi Capitals huffed and puffed over the line after Axar Patel scored an unbeaten 19 runs.
David Warner said in the post-match presentation, “Finally. We scrapped our way to it. Over to Hyderabad. We are really proud of the bowling unit. We did exceptionally well to get wickets in the PP. We lost wickets in cluster. We are very honest to each other. We discussed about areas to improve upon. We played an Okay game.”
On the other hand, Ishant Sharma made an impressive return to the IPL, taking two wickets and conceding only 19 runs in his quota of four overs. The lanky pacer made most of his own conditions and accounted for Sunil Narine and Nitish Rana.
Ishant Sharma said in the post-match presentation after receiving Player of the Match award, “I was just waiting for my chance. I wanted to win a game for the team whenever I will get a chance. Depends on what kind of plans you have ( When quizzed if he had specific plans to a certain batter). Matter of time when you want to execute your plans. There is no lucky charm in the team. We would want to win every game from here on, qualify and hopefully win the tournament.”
Delhi Capitals will fly to Hyderabad to take on Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
