Kolkata Knight Riders thumped Delhi Capitals by 106 runs in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, to win their third game on the trot.
After KKR's batters hammered Delhi's bowlers all over the park, KKR's bowlers came good to compliment their batters with a disciplined bowling effort.
The pick of the bowlers of the evening...
Vaibhav Arora
Vaibhav Arora came on as Impact Sub and how he remained true to the job!
On a wicket that was a batter's paradise, the 26-year-old bowler left his mark and made IPL fans take notice.
Defending 273 was never going to be impossible, but it was going to be a tough task, considering Delhi Capitals' batting line-up: David Warner, Rishabh Pant and Mitch Marsh among others.
In the absence of KKR bowler Harshit Rana who left the field early in DC's innings with an injury, Arora used the moment to shine the light on himself.
Drawing first blood after getting slammed for a couple of fours by Warner, Arora came back nicely with an inswinger that hit opener Prithvi Shaw on the pads. The batter survived the LBW appeal and the review, but only for so long.
A ball later Arora got the ball to swing in again, Shaw went for a heave, only to get the inside edge and have the ball fly towards Varun Chakravarthy who completed a good catch diving forward as the ball died on him.
Arora used the short ball to good effect and it was that very delivery that got him his second wicket of the night inside the Powerplay. Abishek Porel was having difficulties picking up Arora's fine deliveries. Arora banged one in short, Porel was hurried into the pull short, he miscued and was caught by Sunil Narine at short fine leg.
Arora then got his final wicket of the night in the form of Rasikh Salam who was also done in by the short ball as he top edged the pull only to be caught by 'keeper Phil Salt.
Playing only his 11th match for KKR, Arora bowled with a lot of maturity, consistently varying his line and length. He also did well to get the ball to swing both ways and keep the DC batters guessing.
He bowled a few straight and full balls, but the short ball was his main weapon on the night that reaped him rich rewards. KKR
His 3 for 27 wickets on the night are his best bowling figures.
Mitchell Starc
IPL's most expensive buy for this season did nothing to justify his price tag (Rs 24.75 crore/Rs 247.5 million) in the first two games -- he went for 53 runs in their season opener against SunRisers Hyderabad and then he was belted for 47 runs in their next outing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
But Starc is made of strong stuff and he came back well in the match against Delhi on Wednesday night to renew the KKR management's faith in him.
Starc was belted for 11 runs in his first over with Shaw smashing him for a couple of fours. But Starc dug into his reservoir of experience to bounce back. He bowled a full and wide ball only to have Mitch Marsh smash it straight to Ramandeep Singh at point to get his first wicket in IPL 2024.
Inflicting more pain into DC's wounded soul, Starc got his other compatriot Warner to chop on as he tried to cut the short ball to the off side. That was KKR's fourth Delhi scalp inside the Powerplay.
Warner was looking good while batting in the middle and his wicket was crucial as that sounded DC's death knell.
Varun Chakravarthy
Leg spinner Chakaravarthy was clobbered for a couple of maximums and was unlucky to not have had Tristan Stubbs's wicket in his very first over.
Chakaravarthy bowled some yorkers, some full balls and some short ones too and got hit for another boundary. Conceding 23 off his first two overs, Chakravarthy had to stem the flow of runs and in his very next over he struck.
Rishabh Pant had taken down Venkatesh Iyer for 28 runs and was looking like he'd take DC home. But Chakravarthy delivered when it mattered. An over later, he bowled a full on ball on the off stump, Pant went for a slog sweep, only to miscue and find the fielder in the deep.
Chakaravarthy struck again with the very next ball as Axar Patel went for a big heave only to miscue and get caught out in the deep. The leggie got his third wicket of the night when he sent Stubbs packing for 55. He finished with 3 for 33 to be the catalyst in KKR's big win.
Anrich Nortje
The South African quick put KKR in early trouble by dismissing Phil Salt in the 5th over and against the run of play with KKR galloping at over 14 runs an over.
KKR's young Angkrish Raghuvanshi and veteran Sunil Narine kept the tempo high and thumped the DC bowlers at will.
Nortje came back in to the attack and in the second over of his second spell taking out Raghuvanshi who was batting splendidly on 54 off 27.
He came back for a third spell in the 19th over and ended the dangerous Rinku Singh's stay at the crease and halt KKR's charge. Rinku's 8-ball 26 took KKR past the 250 mark and sending him back ensured KKR would not set a record total.
Delhi Capitals Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Pick Your Best Bowlers
