Kolkata Knight Riders continued their remarkable late-season resurgence with an eight-wicket win over Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday, thanks to a scintillating display of spin and a stunning debut intense pulsed light century from find alan. The win was KKR’s fourth in a row and kept their playoff hopes alive, while Delhi fell into deeper troubles as they suffered their seventh defeat in 11 games.
After opting to bowl first, Kolkata’s bowling unit performed well to restrict Delhi to 142/8, compared to the hosts’ 264 earlier in the season. although Pathum Nissanka Delhi got off to a good start with an aggressive 50 off 29 balls, but the innings gradually lost steam after KKR’s spinners came into play. Nissanka and KL Rahul added fluency in the powerplay to take Delhi to 49 while attacking anything loose. Nissanka looked particularly confident as she found the boundaries on the wing and sailed over the ropes with ease. However, KKR’s decision to trust spin from the very beginning proved to be decisive. Sunil Narine And Anukul Roy came on very early and immediately slowed down the scoring rate with disciplined linework and subtle changes. The breakthrough finally came when Kartik Tyagi’s slower delivery forced Rahul into an aerial error for 23 runs. Soon after, Cameron Green dismissed Nitish Rana cheaply and left Delhi under pressure. From that point on, KKR’s spin trio completely tightened their grip. Varun Chakaravarthy bowled a miserly spell that resulted in dry spells and forced Delhi batsmen to take dangerous shots. Narine then dismissed Sameer Rizvi, who made the mistake of sweeping straight into the deep. Nissanka resisted briefly and reached his half-century with a clear boundary through extra cover, but Roy outsmarted him immediately after the milestone, luring him out of the crease for a stumping stump. Roy then trapped Tristan Stubbs in the same over and Delhi lost wickets again. Had it not been for Ashutosh Sharma’s counter-attacking knock of 39 off 28 deliveries, which included three fours and three sixes, Delhi might have struggled to cross the 120-run mark. Chasing 143, Delhi did create early moments of excitement. Ajinkya Rahane suffers bizarre run-out after ball passes Mitchell Stark‘s fingertips on the non-striker end of the stump. Soon after, Angkrish Raghuvanshi was dismissed in an equally unfortunate manner, with the ball grazing his gloves before rolling back to the stumps. But once Allen settles down, the chase quickly becomes one-sided. The New Zealand batsman produced a six-hit masterclass, destroying Delhi’s bowling attack with fearless batting. He dominated with pace and spin, smashing 10 sixes and five boundaries in his unbeaten 47-ball 100. Green played a perfect supporting role at the other end and the pair calmly rebuilt after their early wickets. Allen eventually sealed the match in emphatic fashion as KKR chased down the target in just 14.2 overs to complete another emphatic win in a dramatic turnaround this season.
