A clinical performance was required to keep their play-off hopes alive and
Nitish Rana,
Sunil Narine and Varun
Chakravarthy
rose to the occasion as
KKR
beat
Delhi Capitals
by 59 runs in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
While Rana (81) and Narine (64) helped KKR post a winning total of 194 in 20 overs, mystery spinner Chakravarthy bagged 5/20 to choke the Capitals middle order.
SCORECARD | POINTS TABLERana revelled in his role as an opener and hit 13 fours and a six in an aggressive knock. The left-hander, who didn't have a good start to the season, scored his second half-century, his first having come against the same opponent in their away tie in Sharjah.
However, the Knights were off to a wobbly start, losing their first three wickets in 8 overs with just 44 on the board. Having crumbled for 84 in their last match against RCB, KKR were once again staring down the barrel.
IPL 2020, Match 42: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals
But Rana came to the rescue, taking the attack to the experienced
R Ashwin, whose three overs yielded 45 runs. Walking in at No.5, Narine too joined the party, hitting Ashwin for towering sixes in the back-end of the innings during a 115-run partnership.
In reply, the Capitals put up a shoddy batting display, managing only 135/9 in 20 overs.
The Knights still have to win their next three matches to secure a place in the top four. If they lose one of the remaining matches and finish on 16 points, things could get tricky.
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