IPL 2022, KKR vs DC, Top Performances: Shaw 51, Warner 61, Kuldeep’s 4-35 help DC move to 6th place

IPL 2022, KKR vs DC, Top Performances: Kuldeep Yadav's 4-35, Sunil Narine's 2-21 and Warner-Shaw 93-run partnership are the top performances.

David Warner, Prithvi Shaw added 93 runs for the first wicket for Delhi Capitals (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Brief Scores: DC 215/5 (Warner 61, Shaw 51, Narine 2-21) beat KKR 171 (Shreyas 54, Kuldeep 4-35, Khaleel 3-25) by 44 runs

Player of the Match: Kuldeep Yadav (4-35)

The 19th game of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 saw the table toppers, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on seventh-placed Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Overall, the two-time champion team is slightly ahead against DC with a 16-12 margin but since 2018, it is one of the neck-to-neck clashes with the latter winning five out of the last nine games between the two sides.

Knight Riders captain, Shreyas Iyer on winning the toss, went with the trend by opting to bowl first. Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant informed that they had brought in Khaleel Ahmed in place of Anrich Nortje.

Delhi stunned Kolkata to win their second game of the season

Put in to bat first, shouldering on two destructive half-centuries from openers, David Warner and Prithvi Shaw, Delhi were off to an explosive start before Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur promoted them to 215/5. In their history, they had never lost an IPL game defending 200.

KKR, after losing their openers cheaply, were in the hunt for the chase at 91-2 in the middle stage before Delhi made a comeback thanks to their bowlers taking wickets at regular intervals. Even though Russell tried later on, it was too much for him as KKR lost their second game of IPL 2022 by 44 runs.

Let’s scan the top performances from KKR vs DC game, IPL 2022:

Warner-Shaw dynamic opening partnership set the tone for Delhi

Perhaps the opening combination between David Warner and Prithvi Shaw of Delhi Capitals was going to be the most destructive one and Kolkata was subject to a dynamic stand between the duo.

Shaw, who had an outstanding average of 56.83 with a strike rate of 170.50 including four fifties against KKR, went off to a flier from the very first ball, smacking boundaries at ease. Soon, just after four overs, the stand reached 50-0.

His partner, David Warner, who was bagged by Delhi at INR 6.25 crores, too had a superb record against the purple opponents with 915 runs in just 24 innings at an average of 43.57 and strike rate of 145.70 including two centuries and four fifties. He too joined the party as DC reached the third highest powerplay score (68/0) of the season.

They kept on going before Shaw was undone by a googly from Varun Chakaravarthy to end the 93-run opening partnership in just 8.4 overs. The ruinous combination laid the platform for a mountainous total.

Read More: IPL 2022, LSG vs DC, Top Performances: QdK's resolute 80, Bishnoi's 2-22 catapult LSG to 2nd place

Sunil Narine takes 2-21 against Delhi Capitals (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Sunil Narine finished with 2-21 on a high-scoring ground

On a ground, where others were clubbed for 194 runs in 16 overs, the Caribbean off-spinner, Sunil Narine, who was retained by KKR for just INR 6 crores, finished with 2-21 in his four overs.

Prior to this encounter, he wasn’t having a great record against Delhi Capitals with just two wickets in 18 overs since 2020 but when the name of the opposition franchise was Delhi Daredevils, Narine had an excellent record with 17 wickets in 13 innings at an economy of just 6.49.

When he was called against a destructive opening partnership in the powerplay, the 33-year-old from Trinidad didn’t begin well conceding 17 runs in the first two overs.

But after realizing the right length and pace to bowl on this pitch, he got rid of Lalit Yadav plumb before the wickets for a personal score of 1 in his third over. The batter hadn’t been able to read Narine at all, being dismissed two times against the offie scoring just a run from five balls.

Coming back to the end of his spell in the 16th over of the innings, he got the better of compatriot Rovman Powell who tried to slog Narine out of the ground but ended up gobbled by the fielder at fine leg. Narine got Powell on his second ball but even in T20s overall, Powell had a poor record against Narine with three dismissals for a strike rate of 55 in 22 innings.

Read More: IPL 2022, MI vs KKR, Top Performances: Cummins' 56*(15), Venkatesh's 50* give KKR 8th win over MI

Kuldeep Yadav gets player of the match for 4-35 against KKR (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Kuldeep Yadav took his revenge changing the course of the game in four balls

KKR were off to a decent start in chasing a huge score. Being at 91-2 at the halfway mark, they were still in the hunt with their captain, Shreyas Iyer smacking the ball in the middle.

Kuldeep Yadav, who after quite a few struggling seasons with KKR, mostly warming the benches on most occasions, was being thrown under the hammer early on being smashed for 28 runs in just 2.4 overs. Since then, in just eight balls, he changed the game.

After being cracked for a six, he stumped the opponent captain for a personal score of 54. It was the maiden time, the chinaman got the better of Iyer who had an explosive strike rate of 160 against him.

Coming into his last over, he got rid of Pat Cummins who snatched a lost game from the jaws of MI in KKR’s previous encounter. Then after being hit for a boundary, he sent back Sunil Narine. On the very next ball, he grabbed a marvelous running catch to dismiss Umesh Yadav as his 50th IPL wicket.

Delhi Capitals (DC) went on to win the game by 44 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

IPL 2022 Points Table

IPL 2022 Points Table, KKR remain at the top

What’s to come

The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will meet the unbeaten Gujrat Titans (GT) at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Monday, April 11.

Here are some of the top twitter reactions from KKR vs DC game, IPL 2022:

Read More: IPL 2022, GT vs DC, Top Performances: Gill's 84, Ferguson's 4-28 help GT eclipse DC, take 3rd spot