Kolkata Knight Riders registered a three-wicket win over Delhi Capitals to keep their hopes of making the playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) alive.

At the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Kolkata after winning the toss restricted Delhi to 127 for nine in their 20 overs and then they chased down the target in 18.2 overs with three wickets to spare.

Earlier, Delhi started off confidently with Steven Smith (39) making a strong show as opener. Captain Rishabh Pant then took charge of the innings with a 36 ball 39. The rest of the batting collapsed around Pant. There was no worthwhile contribution from the other batsmen. The Delhi innings was restricted to 127 for nine.

For Kolkata the wicket-takers were Venkatesh Iyer (2-29), Sunil Narine (2-18) and Lockie Ferguson (2-10).

The chase for Kolkata was fashioned by opener Shubman Gill (30). Thereafter, Nitish Rana held the innings together in the chase. Rana was unbeaten on 36 off 27 balls with two boundaries and two sixes. Narine then used the long handle to good effect as he struck 21 off just 10 balls. The chase did appear iffy at times, but Rana used a lot of common sense to manage the innings.

In the end the chase was achieved in 18.2 overs as Kolkata finished on 130 for seven.

For Delhi, the highest wicket-taker were Avesh Khan (3-13).

Earlier, Delhi made one change as they brought in Smith for an injured Prithvi Shaw. On the other hand, Kolkata brought in Tim Southee for Andre Russell and Sandeep Warrier for Prasidh Krishna.

Victory for @KKRiders! ????

The #KKR unit return to winnings ways after beating #DelhiCapitals by three wickets. ?? ?? #VIVOIPL #KKRvDC

Scorecard ?? https://t.co/TVHaNsR1LN pic.twitter.com/nsR7oeMVRj

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 28, 2021

Match Summary

Delhi Capitals: 127-9 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Shikhar Dhawan-4.6 ov), 2-40 (Shreyas Iyer-6.2 ov), 3-77 (Steven Smith-12.2 ov), 4-88 (Shimron Hetmyer-13.5 ov), 5-89 (Lalit Yadav-14.3 ov), 6-92 (Axar Patel-15.3 ov), 7-120 (Ravichandran Ashwin-19.1 ov), 8-122 (Rishabh Pant-19.2 ov), 9-127 (Avesh Khan-19.6 ov)

Kolkata Knight Riders: 130-7 (18.2)
Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Venkatesh Iyer-4.3 ov), 2-43 (Rahul Tripathi-5.5 ov), 3-67 (Shubman Gill-10.6 ov), 4-67 (Eoin Morgan-11.2 ov), 5-96 (Dinesh Karthik-14.4 ov), 6-122 (Sunil Narine-16.5 ov), 7-126 (Tim Southee-17.6 ov)

Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by three wickets

Scorecard

Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (captain), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Warrier

Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (captain & wicket-keeper), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan

Match Details
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders, elected to field
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Start time: 1400 hrs UAE time
Match officials: Nitin Menon, Saiyed Khalid (On-field umpires); Anil Chaudhary (TV Umpire); Yeshwant Barde (Reserve Umpire); Prakash Bhatt (Match-referee)

©Cricket World 2021