Bengaluru, Oct. 3: Delhi Capitals put up a scintillating show with bat and ball as they notched up a comfortable 18-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
The Delhi team was playing KKR in the second match of the first double-header of the season. After being put into bat the batsman justified the ground as they put up a massive 228 on the ball.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer led from the front as DC climbed to the top of the table after notching up their third win of the season.

IPL 2020: DC vs KKR, Match 16: As it Happened

Jaan mein jaan aa gayi by God 🥺

Hence proved, #DCvKKR = 100% Drama + 200% Thrill 💙#DCvKKR #Dream11IPL #IPL2020 #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/Tmeoy02x51

— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) October 3, 2020

But after Dhawan lost his wicket for 26 off 16, Iyer came in and played a captain's knock as he remained unbeaten on 88 off 38 deliveries. Iyer and youngster Prithvi, who laid the foundation with a blistering 66 off 41, led Delhi to a whopping 228. While the top order had already taken the KKR bowlers to the cleaners, Rishabh Pant also played a quickfire knock, scoring 38 off 17 to help Delhi reach a defendable total.
If the Powerplay belonged to Shaw, who blazed his way to 66 off 41 balls with four boundaries and as many sixes, Iyer dominated the remaining part of the innings with his silken smooth batting as he scythed the opposition attack with seven fours and half a dozen sixes. A few of Iyer's sixes landed either in the top tier or got lost in the car park adjoining the stadium, such was the timing rather than brute force that the DC skipper used.
Containment was never possible on such a track with Capitals batsmen hitting as many as 14 sixes and 18 boundaries in the entire innings. After two good games, young Kamlesh Nagarkoti (1/35 in 3 overs) and Shivam Mavi (0/40 in 3 overs) got harsh lessons as Dinesh Karthik couldn't risk completing their quota of overs.
Pat Cummins (0/49 in 4 overs) was taken to task by Shaw in the Powerplay as he repeatedly cleared the in-field. Mavi opening the bowling also got the hammering as he lost his length early on, bowling either too full or too short to the DC openers. Such was Shaw's form that even Dhawan (26 off 16 balls) was overshadowed despite some decent hits in a 56-run opening stand. However, the man who enthralled one and all was Iyer with some monstrous hits. The two spinners Varun Chakravarthy (1/49 in 4 overs) and Sunil Narine (0/26 in 2 overs) were simply sent into the orbit.

.@DelhiCapitals Captain Shreyas Iyer bags Man of the Match award for Match 16 for his stupendous knock of 88* off 38 deliveries.#Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/dXOKXtM2TE

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 3, 2020

After putting up a strong total, the Delhi bowlers bowled beautifully to restrict the batsman. Though quickfire knocks from Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi saw the balances tilting in KKR's favour for a moment, but their dismissal sealed the Knights win.
Delhi started off their defense well as they removed Narine, who has not yet clicked with the bat early.
Following Narine's departure, Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana did well to keep the runrate in check. Gill scored 28 off 22, before being caught by Pant.
Rana held the reigns with a solid 58 off 35, but with regular wickets, the Knights failed to cross the hurdle. Skipper Dinesh Karthik once again failed with the bat as he went for 6 off 8. The big hitting Andre Russell also lost his wicket cheaply, adding only 13 off 8.
With the run rate past 18, Morgan and Tripathi took charge as they picked up the pace with some powerful shots. While Morgan scored a quickfire 44 off 18, Tripathi scored 36 off 16. But Anrich Nortje, who picked up three wickets on the evening to restrict the Knights, removed Morgan to dampen KKR's chances.

.@KKRiders, our action flick almost turned into a horror movie 😱

Here's to us shooting cricket fans' (and our own) heart rates right up every time we meet 📈

Well played, Knights 💙💜#DCvKKR #Dream11IPL #IPL2020 #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/OTeTd61rhC

— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) October 3, 2020

Nortje led the bowling attack for Delhi, giving away just thirty three runs and picking up three wickets. Harshal Patel also enjoyed a good outing as he picked up two for 34. Kagiso Rabada, R Ashwin and Marcus Stoinis picked up a wicket each to keep the Knights in check.
With this, the Delhi Capitals notched up their third win of the season, while KKR fell to their second loss in the ongoing edition.