IPL 2020: Match 16 – KKR vs DC – Who Said What

The 16th match of the Indian Premier League 2020 saw action between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals in Sharjah. Both the teams walked up the high scoring field of Sharjah to bag two points in their account. Showing up with the willow first, Shreyas Iyer and his men displayed some breathtaking batting show to post the so far highest score (228/4) of IPL 2020 on board. Captain Iyer couldn’t have been more brilliant as he played a scintillating knock of 88* off 38 balls and led his squad home by clinching victory by 18 runs.

Shreyas Iyer was awarded the player of the match for his terrific match-winning knock. Young Prithvi Shaw also gave his best contribution with the bat as he scored a significant 66 off 41. The cameo of Shikhar Dhawan also remained essential in the team’s gigantic score. None of the bowlers remained good with the ball from KKR’s end as Iyer smashed all of them endlessly.

Morgan and Tripathi couldn’t get KKR home

Chasing the gigantic score, the opening stand failed from the KKR squad. Nitish Rana scored good 58 off 35. At one moment, the duo of Rahul Tripathi and Eoin Morgan was looking too dangerous as they scored 36 off 16 and 44 of 18. However, their show ended, and KKR fell weak ahead of the target. Anrich Nortje remained influential with the ball from DC squad as he conceded 33 runs by scalping three wickets.

Winning skipper and Man of the match, Shreyas Iyer said

It is really difficult to defend here. It has been such an amazing tournament, especially in Sharjah. It is always a thrill to play at this ground, the last time I played here was in the under-19s. Winning the match was the icing on the cake. It was really necessary for me to take time at the start which I did in the earlier games as well. It was the right time for me to take on the bowlers and then rotate strike as well after that.

Luckily it worked out for me. I know the hard work and the smart work I have put in through my gym sessions, so I wouldn’t say I am a very gifted player. We keep talking about close victories and this was one of them. Really satisfield with the way everyone stepped up. Unfortunate to lose Mishra in the middle when he was spinning the ball really well. We were confident we had two good overs left, but anything could happen, it is a funny game is T20s and especially here in Sharjah. We really have a good platform and we have to be insatiable with our work ethics and keep getting better game after game from here on.

Losing skipper, Dinesh Karthik said

The way the boys batted is something I am really proud of, we kept fighting till the end which is the nature of our team. Really happy with the effort we put in today. Maybe in between 10-13 overs we didn’t get many boundaries, we lost a couple of wickets as well which sets you back in such run chases. To be honest, couple more sixes and we would have crossed the line, we wouldn’t be talking about the lengths.

I thought it was a hard wicket to bowl on and the bowlers did a fabulous job, maybe 10 runs too many but its okay. We trust him (Russell) and believe he is the best in the business, we want to give him enough time to create an impact on the game and that’s something we want to encourage. I haven’t thought about it (making the change at the top) but maybe after this game I will sit down with the coaching staff.. We still believe in Narine and whenever he gets going he gets us off to a great start.