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WATCH | Ashwin, Morgan indulge in heated exchange of words before off-spinner has final laugh

The encounter between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah on Tuesday was an eventful one. DC’s Ravichandran Ashwin was involved in some exchange of words with pacer Tim Southee and captain Eoin Morgan in the last over of the innings. 

The off-spinner had the last laugh after he dismissed Morgan for a two-ball duck during the chase later in the day, but sadly Delhi failed to capitalise on the same and yielded to Sunil Narine's onslaught.

KKR were handed a target of 128 in 20 overs by the Capitals and the Morgan-led side went over the line by 3 wickets after Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine produced a steady stand in the later stage of the innings. 

Kolkata were struggling at 96/6 when the two batsmen provided the resistance and put 26 runs for the sixth wicket. While Rana eventually remained unbeaten at 36 off 27, Narine chipped in with a cameo of 10-ball 21. 

Avesh Khan was the pick of the bowlers for DC as he scalped three wickets at the cost of 13 runs in 3 overs. 

Earlier, in the day, KKR bowlers restricted DC to 127/9 after the Delhi team suffered a middle-order collapse during the course. Lock Ferguson, Narine and Venkatesh Iyer picked up a couple of wickets apiece for KKR.  

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IPL 2021 | KKR vs DC: Hits & Flops as Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana propel Knight Riders towards Playoffs

It was a low scoring affair but by no means a boring one as Kolkata Knight riders defeated table-toppers Delhi Capitals by three wickets in Sharjah to win their fifth game of the Indian Premier League 2021 and consolidate their position at the fourth position in the points table. With their third win out of four games in the UAE leg, the Knight Riders now have 10 points from 11 games. Capitals on the other hand couldn’t get past the Chennai Super Kings which they were aiming to with a win in this game and thus remain at 16 points from 11 games. With a win, not only would they have gotten over the Super Kings in the points table, but would have become the first team to cement their place in the Playoffs. But it wasn’t to be. Much like in every game, this too had some Hits and Flops in terms of players and they will be analysed below. Hits Sunil Narine It was a wicket that was favouring spin and no doubt Sunil Narine would have benefitted from that. However, the way he bowled was just unbelievable. Getting Shreyas Iyer, one of the best players of spin, deceived by pace and line and his stumps rattled, is nothing less than mind-blowing. Apart from Iyer, the 33-year-old also dismissed Lalit Yadav and gave away only 18 runs from his four overs. However, the moment that got him to Man of the Match was his batting. At a time when KKR were struggling at 96-5 with 32 runs still needed from 32 balls and making runs getting difficult with each passing ball, Narine came and in just 10 balls changed the face of the game. He hit the premier bowler of the Capitals, Kagiso Rabada for 19 runs in one over and the game was almost over. Nitish Rana Another man that was primarily responsible for the KKR victory in this very tightly contested game was Nitish Rana. While Narine changed the game in the 16th over, there was another time that Rana changed the game, and it was in the 14th over when Lalit Yadav was bowling. Rana, a Delhi teammate of Lait Yadav, had some idea or the other about the bowling of his domestic cricket teammate and hit him for 15 runs in four balls before Dinesh Karthik hit another four in that very over to bring the equation down from 52 off 42 to 32 of 36. The fact that Rana remained till the end to carry his team home even as wickets kept falling showed that he was determined to get the two points and thank those who always showed faith in him. Tim Southee Although the KKR debut of the Kiwi would be more remembered for his alterations with Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Tim Southee also bowled brilliantly in the conditions, which wasn’t really favourable to him, especially with the heat turning his face almost red. But determined to prove the call to replace an injured Andre Russell with him right, Southee bowled the full quota of four overs and gave away only 29 runs to take a wicket as well. The best moment was the last over that he bowled. He gave way only six runs, four of which came from a dropped catch. Had that catch not been dropped, the last over might have seen four wickets, which remained three only, two of which were runouts. Flops Kagiso Rabada In a match as low scoring as this one, each ball is important and considering the fact that there was not even a single six hit in the entire innings of the Capitals, Rabada giving away two six and 20 runs in a single over was criminal, to say the least. Not only did he gave away 20 runs, but at a moment in the game, where a tight over could have turned the game n Delhi’s favour by all means. In total, the Proteas bowler gave away 28 runs in just three overs. This is after he bowled a wicket maiden to remove Shubman Gill Lalit Yadav Lalit, who did not bowl in the last game that he played and remained in the playing XI only keeping in mind the Sharjah wicket which supports spinners. Both his ability to bowl off-spin against plenty of lefty batters in the KKR batting order and also his ability to play spin better made him an automatic choice in the XI. However, in the game, both the tricks of his trade failed him big time. First, the 24-year-old was trapped leg before by Narine on a duck while batting, then he was taken to the cleaners by a lefty, Nitish Rana while bowling, making it a forgetful game for him. He gave away 35 runs in only three overs. Having achieved this victory, the Knight Riders would now look to carry the momentum in their last three games where they face Punjab Kings in the next match and Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in the next two respectively, to make sure they reach the Playoffs. The Capitals however play a tough Mumbai Indians in their next game.

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Watch | Rishabh Pant almost smashes Dinesh Karthik's face

KKR wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik was saved by some centimetres from getting hit on his face during the match against Delhi Capitals in Sharjah. The incident happened on the first delivery of the 17th over which was being bowled by Varun Chakravarthy when the DC captain tried to slash the delivery aggressively but the ball took the inside edge and was going towards the stumps when the left-hander wildly swung his bat in order to keep it away. But Pant totally missed the ball and almost hit Karthik who had stepped up a couple of yards with his bat. It fortunately didn’t hit the KKR wicket-keeper and Pant was quick enough to make the apologies. The Kolkata side defeated DC by three wickets while chasing a target of 128 runs in 20 overs. The Knight Riders lost wickets at regular intervals but it was Nitish Rana who held the fort from one end and was later joined by Sunil Narine in the middle as the team score read 96/5. The two batsmen then stitched an important partnership of 26 runs for the sixth wicket before Narine was undone for a 10-ball 21. Rana remained unbeaten at 36 off 27 to take his side home and give them an important win. For Delhi Capitals, it was Avesh Khan who was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with a three-wicket haul at the cost of 13 runs in 3 overs. Earlier, DC were restricted to 127/9 in 20 overs. Opener Steve Smith scored 39 off 34 while captain Pant also struck 39 in 36 deliveries while Shikhar Dhawan was the third batter to cross the double-figure mark. Lock Ferguson, Narine and Venkatesh Iyer picked up a couple of wickets each during the course. KKR now have 10 points from 11 matches that they have played so far.