Twitter Reactions: Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana shine as KKR halt Delhi Capitals winning streak in Sharjah

Kolkata Knight Riders ended Delhi Capitals’ winning streak, defeating them by three wickets and 10 balls to spare Sharjah to solidify their number four spot in the points tally.

In stark contrast to how it behaved in the year 2020, the bowler’s graveyard Sharjah seems to have suddenly colluded against the batters. With little pace, spongy bounce and enough grip on the surface, Delhi failed to hit even a single six, as their quest for momentum lasted as long as their innings.

Only three of their batters – Steve Smith, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant – reached double digits, and the target posted was not surprising given the highest strike rate of amongst the three was Dhawan’s 120.

Spin strangle 

Filling in for injured Prithvi Shaw, Smith sedately added 35 with Dhawan, who struck five fours in his 20-ball 24 before miscuing a cut off Lockie Ferguson straight to point. Immediately after the powerplay, Sunil Narine cleaned up Shreyas Iyer for 1 off 5 to push Delhi further back.

Rishabh Pant, alongside Smith, rebuilt the innings, but Narine and Varun Chakravarthy operating in tandem meant Delhi could not score even a single boundary in overs no. 5-9 that produced only 17 runs before Smith upped the ante, hitting successive fours of Chakravarthy in the 10th to infuse some momentum.

Delhi crawl 

The partnership was broken a couple of overs later, when Smith inside-edged an agricultural hoick off Lockie Ferguson on to his stumps to end his 39-run knock, while KKR were also smart in exploiting Venkatesh Iyer’s medium pace in Andre Russell’s absence as Shimron Hetmyer holed out off him to long-off before Iyer struck again to get Axar Patel caught at midwicket. In between Iyer’s strike, Narine pinned Lalit Yadav lbw for a three-ball duck.

If Delhi would have fancied their chances to accelerate towards the death, it hardly went their way in that phase either, with over 16-20 producing only 38 runs at the loss of four wickets, of which two were run-outs of Pant and Avesh Khan in the final over.

Gill, Rana settle KKR

Set 128 for the win, KKR ticked off 28 runs quickly, with Shubman Gill depositing Axar Patel for a six down the ground after Venkatesh Iyer had smashed Anrich Nortje for consecutive fours in the opening over of their response. However, a couple of quiet powerplay overs forced Iyer to break the shackles, which proved the cause of his undoing as Lalit Yadav cleaned him up for 14 to give his team the first breakthrough.

Rahul Tripathi launched Yadav for a six over deep square to get off the mark but perished to Avesh Khan, who returned with 3/13, in the immediately following over to bring in Nitish Rana. In a tight passage of play, Gill and Rana ensured that KKR did not lose the plot, however, their 24-run partnership for the third wicket consumed 31 balls.

Narine cameo releases pressure 

A wicket-maiden 11th over from Kagiso Rabada, where he got Gill caught at long-on, and Ashwin removing Eoin Morgan for a duck in the next did bring Delhi briefly into the contest, but Rana took the charge alongside Dinesh Karthik, easing the pressure through a 20-run 14th over off Lalit Yadav before Karthik played on Avesh to walk back for 12.

With 30 needed off as many deliveries, Narine, who claimed 2/18 with the ball, flew off with the bat, dispatching Rabada for 6,4,6 in a 21-run over to bring down the equation to 9 off 24. DC did their best to scruff KKR by their neck, with Nortje removing the dangerous Narine for 21 off 10, although Rana avoided any mishap, staying unbeaten on 36 to see his side home with 10 balls left in the bank.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: