The excellent performances from Rana and Narine, followed by Varun Chakravarthy’s maiden 5-wickets haul Kolkata overcame Delhi to grab two vital points and with this win, Kolkata retained their 4th spot.
Toss: Delhi opted to bowl first
Team Changes: Sunil Narine & Nagarkoti come in (Kolkata)
Anrich Nortje & Ajinkya Rahane come in (Delhi)
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Detailed Match Report
Kolkata made a big change in their opening slot by sending Gill with Nitish Rana. The top order struggled one more time and the horror show continued as Kolkata lost Gill, Tripathi and Karthik on the score of 42. The game was under control until the Narine show came. Sunil Narine and Nitish Rana went for an aggressive approach and this changed the entire game. Both batsmen completed their half-centuries and the duo added 115 runs in just 9.2 overs. This partnership lifted Kolkata on top of the game. In flag-overs, Rabada broke this stand after picking Narine, scoring 64 off 32 balls. Morgan and Rana entertained with some good shots, in the end, to take Kolkata on 194. Before getting out in last over, Rana scored fine 81 off 53 balls.
Delhi off to a poor start, after losing Dhawan and Rahane in first 3 overs. Iyer and Pant both tried to rescue but the required run-rate pressure hurt their goal. Chakravarthy picked Pant and Delhi lost the momentum. In middle-overs, they couldn’t find acceleration. Varun Chakravarthy shattered all the spark with picking 5-wickets haul. Pat Cummins also bowled exceptionally with 3 wickets for just 17 runs. Kolkata restricted Delhi on 135 to clinch the game by huge 59 runs.
Star Performer of the Match
Nitish Rana is our star performer of the match. He got the opportunity in the opening slot, despite a poor form and Kolkata was in deep trouble with 42/3. Rana put a match-winning stand with Narine to garb the attention. He scored brilliant 82 runs off 53 balls to help Kolkata to get a strong total.
Top 5 players who made an impact in the game
Nitish Rana 82 (53)
Sunil Narine 64 (32)
Anrich Nortje 4-0-27-2
Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-20-5
Pat Cummins 4-0-17-3
