Prithvi Shaw displayed marvelously how to crush a T20 chase in the first over, as the Delhi Capitals celebrated a seven-wicket win against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
KKR put up 154 for 6 and might have thought that good bowling would keep the match on their side. However, Shaw soon broke their illusion! Shivam Mavi, in KKR's last game, had given up only 13 runs in four overs against the Punjab Kings. His deliveries were hit for fours as Shaw went straight, square, wide and imperious.
Shaw made a half-century in 18 balls with 42 of those runs have come via boundaries. He took the required rate from 7.75 to 6.84 and boundaries were raining in the ground from his bat. He was dismissed on 82 off 41 balls. This was a short-term victory as Delhi needed just nine runs in 28 balls when Shaw left. The Capitals reached the target in 16.3 overs, joining the Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore on ten points at the top of the table.
The Knight Riders have a strong middle order though they tend to have slow starts. It was evident as the top three of Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill and Rahul Tripathi couldn't score quickly. Capitals' bowlers kept the openers on a short leash by denying room and altering pace so that the batsmen couldn't score much. With the openers contributing 77 in 67 deliveries, there was a lot of pressure on the middle and lower order to score. Lalit Yadav replaced Mishra in this match. He returned 2 for 13 in three overs, letting Capitals be in control. Russell took time to settle in and eventually made 59 runs off the last five overs for KKR.
In the chase, Shawe was on 48 off 15 balls after the first five overs. Shikhar Dhawan supported him at the other end. Eoin Morgan brought Pat Cummins into the attack in the sixth over. Cummins gave his team some relief by getting Dhawan for 46 and then having Shaw dismissed for 82. He took the wicket of Rishabh Pant, but these minor losses didn't keep the Capitals' away from victory.
Match Results: Delhi Capitals 156 for 3 (Shaw 82, Dhawan 46, Cummins 3-24) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 154 for 6 (Russell 45*, Gill 43, Yadav 2-13) by seven wickets