IPL 2024: Phil Salt's thunderous fifty powers KKR to 7-wicket win over DC

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 29 (ANI): Riding on the back of Varun Chakaravarthy's three-wickets and Phil Salt's half-century Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered a 7-wicket victory against Delhi Capitals (DC) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match here at the iconic Eden Gardens on Monday.
The target of 154 runs was a cakewalk for KKR as the Kolkata batters chased down the total in just 16.3 overs.
With this win, KKR now cushioned their place at the No. 2 spot with 12 points on the IPL 2024 points table while Delhi sit at the sixth position with 12 points.
The fiery start from Salt with his 68 off 33 balls innings, left very little to do for captain Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer for the final few runs. However, Axar Patel's spin magic brought some relief for visitors in this match with his spell of 2/25 but the 154-run target was simply too low to defend for the Rishabh Pant-led team.
In the run chase of 154, KKR openers Sunil Narine and Phil Salt looked in great touch with the English batter taking major charge of the flow against DC's bowling attack.
In the 2nd over, Lizaad Williams dropped the catch of KKR's dangerous batter Salt on 15. While hammering the DC bowlers, Salt brought up his half-century in 26 balls with a cracking six off Khaleel Ahmed and also a 50-run opening stand.
Axar Patel finally gave his team a big breakthrough as he removed Narine for 15, breaking the 78-run partnership stand between the openers.
Salt along with Rinku Singh kept the momentum going for KKR while slamming boundaries at regular intervals. Axar bagged his second wicket of the night as he dismissed Salt. Lizaad Williams got the third wicket for DC as he dismissed Rinku Singh.
In the end, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer kept KKR in the game with their stunning shots guiding Kolkata home with a 7-wicket victory.
Earlier, KKR spinner Varun Chakravarthy weaved magic and spun the Delhi Capitals batters, but Kuldeep Yadav managed to play an influential cameo at the end, propelling the visitors to 153/9 at the Eden Gardens.
With wickets falling on the slower side and considering the way DC batters expressed themselves in past games, DC skipper Rishabh Pant opted to bat first to put runs on the board.
While Pant backed his decision, KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was adamant that bowling first would be the ideal option for the hosts, and his thesis panned out correctly.
DC openers Prithvi Shaw and Jake Fraser-McGurk (13) opened their arms early in the powerplay, looking to replicate the success they tasted against Mumbai Indians in the first six overs.
Shaw found the boundary thrice before losing his wicket to Vaibhav Arora. Record IPL signing Mitchell Starc claimed the wicket of his national compatriot Jake (12) as he tried to clear the boundary rope.
DC continued to rely on their high-risk, high-reward approach, with Shai Hope smoking the ball into the stand on the second delivery he faced. Vaibhav had the last laugh as he produced a cracker on the next delivery to knock the bails off the stumps and end Hope's (6) promising knock.
Abishek Porel tried to ease off the pressure by targeting Harshit Rana and picking boundaries on three consecutive deliveries. He ramped the ball over the keeper on the first one, slapped the second one over covers on the next delivery, and picked the slower delivery to find the boundary once again.
Pant joined the party and pulled out one of the classics to send the ball sailing into the stand in Sunil Narine's over to end DC's powerplay on a score of 67-3. After the first six overs, DC's innings fell apart, with Rana dismissing Porel in the next over. Pant survived a scare with Rana dropping a simple catch in the ninth later.
He tried to make the most of the second opportunity with a four on the first ball of the 10th over. In the same over, Axar Patel struck back-to-back fours off Arora to put DC in a comfortable spot.
Varun Chakravarthy struck on the first ball in the 11th over and removed Pant for 27. Kumar Kushagra was brought in as an impact substitute to salvage DC's flailing innings. Varun struck back in his next over by dismissing Tristan Stubbs (4). Narine reduced DC to 102/7 by claiming Axar's (15) wicket.
Kushagra failed to make any impact for DC as Chakravarthy claimed his third of the night by dismissing the DC batter for 1. Kuldeep Yadav played an influential cameo which powered DC to 153/9.
Brief Score: Delhi Capitals 153/9 (Rishabh Pant 27, Kuldeep Yadav 35*; Varun Chakravarthy 3-16) vs Kolkata Knight Riders 157/3 (Phil Salt 68, Shreyas Iyer 33*, Axar Patel 2-25). (ANI)