Yesterday IPL match result: KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav star as Delhi Capitals outclass Kolkata Knight Riders

KOLKATA: Eventually for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), it was not to be. When skipper Ajinkya Rahane walked out for the toss with Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Axar Patel, he would still have been clinging on to slim hope. However, by the time DC openers Abishek Porel and KL Rahul stepped out to bat, invited to do so by Rahane, that hope had all but vanished. What stared at them was a dead rubber.


In such situations, the spotlight is always on individual performances rather than team totals. For the record, DC won the contest by 40 runs. Chasing DC’s 203 for five, KKR were bowled out for 163 in 18.4 overs.







Experienced warhorses Rahul and Rahane gave the 40,000-odd fans reasons to applaud, both scoring halfcenturies and underlining their utility in this format. Rahane quickly got over the disappointment of missing out on a playoffs spot by scoring 63 off 39 balls. The KKR captain was one of Kuldeep Yadav’s three victims, others being Cameron Green (2) and Rinku Singh (0, a first for him in IPL), a spell which broke KKR’s back. Lungi Ngidi also grabbed three wickets, while Mitchell Starc bagged two.


DC were perhaps in a more worry-free situation given that they were already out of reckoning in the playoff race. And that was evident in the manner Rahul went about his task. His half-century came in just 25 balls.


It was a refined innings from a batter who relies more on proper cricket shots than flamboyance. His strikes were clean and the four sixes in his 60 had a stamp of class.


Axar swung his arms quite freely for his 39, the straight six off Varun Chakravarthy in the bowler’s fourth over was worth a mention. Axar spoilt Varun’s figures somewhat with two sixes in that over, but the spinner had the last laugh, having the DC skipper caught by Rinku Singh when he went for a heave too many.


Vidarbha medium-pacer Saurabh Dubey, who was warming the KKR benches in the early matches, proved he was right up there with the best conceding just five runs in his first spell of two overs. He eventually finished at 2 for 28.
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