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Cricket is highly unpredictable. You can’t be sure of what will happen the next moment to change the face of the game. The situation is even more pressing in the case of T20 matches where things change swiftly ball by ball. Each over brings in some kind of surprise, especially in a big-chase game. That’s what happened in a match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils.
The beauty of IPL is that many things happen concurrently. While the match was underway, Sandeep Sharma showered praises for Sunrisers Hyderabad’s captain Kane Williamson. Let’s find out the different things that took place during the match.
It was a wonderful day for Delhi Daredevils as they finished up winning the game. However, things weren’t so easy. They had to toil hard to bag the match. Many hurdles came in the way that stretched the battle for both teams. KKR demonstrated that they wouldn’t accept defeat no matter what and lived up to this point until their last arsenal. However, it was DD that emerged as the winner by the end of the day due to fantastic swing bowling by their bowlers just like Sandeep Sharma.
Put into bat first after losing the toss to KKR, Delhi began a slow start. Prithvi Shaw and Colin Munro opened the innings for DD. They made only 3 runs in the first over bowled by Piyush Chawla. After the first 2 quiet overs, Delhi batsmen started showing their power-hitting abilities from the third over bowled by Chawla. The bowler was hit 4 boundaries by the openers, and Delhi’s total moved up to 31 without loss. The power-hitting continued in the power-play overs, and the Delhi team looked well settled for 57 for no loss in 6 overs.
The problem with KKR bowling was they didn’t have a swing bowler like Sandeep Sharma or Trent Boult in that match. Even a little bit of swing bowling could have grabbed the team a couple of wickets, halting the surge in run rate by the Delhi batsmen. We’ve seen many fans holding Sandeep Sharma images with his swing arm action after his brilliant performances in various matches.
So, the DD batsmen seemed to have a free run. Also, the pitch was flat, allowing the batters to hit all corners of the ground with minimum hassles. All the batsmen had to do was time the ball and ensure it landed on the ground. Delhi’s scoring drive continued till the final over, and the team put up a formidable score of 219. So, KKR got a huge run chase of 220.
In reply, KKR managed to make 164. They started poorly and lost early wickets. By the end of the second over, KKR lost 2 wickets for 21 runs. The team never recovered from the loss of early wickets. On the contrary, DD bowled well and kept picking wickets. Even their domestic bowlers were able to swing the bowl just like Sandeep Sharma.
Despite a fighting knock of 44 off just 33 balls by Andre Russell, KKR fell short by 55 runs Best bowler for DD was Amit Mishra who took 2 wickets for 23 runs from his 4 overs.
Delhi’s power-hitting tenure was fantastic, all thanks to the lack of swing bowlers like Sandeep Sharma. Although KKR tried to fight back, they lost the game by 55 runs. The game marked the importance of quality swing bowling that could have changed the face of the match otherwise.
FAQs
Who scored the most runs for DD in the match?
Shreyas Iyer scored 93 not out for DD.
How many runs did DD make in the last 4 overs?
They slammed 76 runs in the last 24 balls.
What was the main reason for Delhi’s victory?
Besides bowling, DD bowlers bowled well and picked wickets at regular intervals that turned the game in Delhi’s favour.
