Kolkata Knight Riders continued their impressive late-season comeback with an eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday, thanks to a brilliant spin display followed by a captivating first innings. IPL Since the century Finn Allen. The victory was KKR’s fourth in a row and kept their playoff hopes alive, while Delhi slumped to their seventh defeat in 11 matches.
After electing to bowl first, Kolkata’s bowling unit produced a clinical performance to restrict Delhi to just 142/8 at a level where the hosts had scored 264 earlier this season. While Pathum Nissanka Delhi provided a bright start with an aggressive 50 off 29 balls, the innings gradually losing momentum after KKR’s spinners settled down. Nissanka and KL Rahul added fluidity during the powerplay, taking Delhi to 49 while anything was loose. Nissanka looked particularly confident, finding boundaries from the offside and clearing the ropes with ease. However, KKR’s decision to rely on spin from the start proved decisive. Sunil Narayan And Anukol Roy was introduced early and immediately slowed the scoring rate with disciplined lines and subtle variations. Success finally came when Karthik Tyagi dismissed Rahul for 23 with a slow delivery that forced an aerial error. Soon after, Cameron Green came under pressure and dismissed Nitish Rana cheaply to Delhi. From there, KKR’s spin trio tightened their grip. Varun Chakraborty had a bad spell that dried up the boundaries, forcing the Delhi batsmen into risky shots. Narine then dismissed Sameer Rizvi, who swept straight in the deep. Nissanka resisted briefly and brought up his half-century with a crisp boundary through extra cover, but Roy outfoxed him shortly after the milestone, sending him out of the crease for stumping. Roy then trapped Tristan Stubbs in the same over as Delhi once again lost wickets in a cluster. Had it not been for Ashutosh Sharma’s counter-attack of 39 runs off 28 balls with the help of three fours and three sixes, Delhi would have faced difficulties in crossing the 120-run mark. Chasing 143, Delhi created excitement in the opening moments. Ajinkya Rahane suffered a strange run-out after being hit by the ball Mitchell StarcFingertips on the stump at the non-striker’s end. A little later, Angkrish Raghuvanshi was dismissed with the same misfortune when the ball grazed his glove before returning to the stumps. But once Allen settled in, the chase quickly became one-sided. The New Zealand batsman unleashed a six-hitting masterclass, decimating Delhi’s bowling attack with fearless strokeplay. He dominated both pace and spin, hitting an unbeaten 100 off 47 balls with 10 sixes and five fours. Green played an excellent supporting role at the other end as the pair calmly rebuilt after the early wickets. Allan finally sealed the game in emphatic fashion as KKR chased down the target in just 14.2 overs, completing another dominant victory in their dramatic turnaround this season.
