New Delhi: Andre Russell and Sunil Narine combined with ball and field to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a dramatic 12-run win over Delhi Capitals in a high-scoring encounter at Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.
Chasing a daunting 205, Delhi appeared out of the contest after a mid-innings collapse, but young Vipraj Nigam nearly turned the tide with a furious 38 off just 19 balls. His fightback included five boundaries and two sixes and had DC needing 25 off 7 balls, before Russell delivered a perfect penultimate over and then castled Nigam in the final to shut the door.
Earlier, Narine spun a web through the Delhi middle order, finishing with 3/29 including the key wickets of Triston Stubbs, Axar Patel and Faf du Plessis. Russell (1/22) bookended the bowling effort with the key wicket of Nigam at the death.
Kolkata’s innings was built on a commanding top-order performance led by Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 off 32) and Rinku Singh (36 off 25), who powered them to 207/5. Rahmanullah Gurbaz ( 26 off 12) and Narine (27 off 16) chipped in at the top, while Russell added the finishing touches with a 9-ball 17.
In reply, DC started on the back foot with Abishek Porel falling early to Anukul Roy. Du Plessis and Axar Patel staged a spirited revival with a 76-run stand.
Du Plessis notched up a fluent 62 (45b, 7×4, 2×6) and Axar blazed away to a 23-ball 43 (4×4, 3×6) despite nursing visible discomfort. However, once both were dismissed in quick succession by Narine, the chase unraveled.
From 136/3, Delhi slipped to 160/8 with Starc and Ashutosh Sharma perishing to Varun Chakaravarthy in the 18th over.
Just as the contest seemed sealed, Vipraj Nigam ignited hopes. He struck Varun and Harshit Rana for boundaries and sixes in a brave counterattack, taking 13 off the 19th over. He followed up with two brutal fours off Russell in the penultimate over. But needing 20 off the last 4 balls, Nigam attempted a reverse-sweep and was bowled — Russell roaring in celebration as the game ended 12 runs in KKR’s favour.
With this victory, Kolkata strengthened their grip on sixth place, while Delhi, despite yet another familiar collapse, managed to hold on to fourth.
