SHARJAH: Shreyas Iyer showed his class with a captain’s knock and pacer Anrich Nortje honoured his skipper’s heroics by bowling a splendid penultimate over in Delhi Capitals’ 18-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in a thrilling IPL match in Sharjah last night.
Iyer’s (88* off 38 balls) magnificent power-hitting after Prithvi Shaw’s opening act propelled Delhi to 228 for four after being put into bat first by Dinesh Karthik.
Rishabh Pant (38 off 17 balls) dusted off his rustiness with a quickfire knock.
The target was difficult but not impossible but Delhi produced the best effort by a pace bowling unit on a placid track with Kolkata finishing at 210 for 8.
Harshal Patel finished with 2 for 34 in 4 overs Nortje 3 for 33 in 4 overs.
For Kolkata, Nitish Rana top scored with 58 while Eoin Morgan made 44.
With their third win, Delhi (six points from four games) move to the top of the table.
In the first match yesterday, in Abu Dhabi, skipper Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal scored half-centuries to take Royal Challengers Bangalore to an eight wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.
Chasing a 155-run target, Kohli remained unbeaten on 72 off 53 balls with seven fours and two sixes, while Padikkal hit 63 off 45 deliveries.
After winning the toss and opting to bat, Steve Smith’s Rajasthan Royals were reduced to 31/3 and later 70/4, before Mahipal Lomror scored a gallant 47. Rahul Tewatia hit three sixes to finish on 24 off 12 balls in the back end of the innings to ensure that the Royals finished at a decent total.
For RCB, Yuzvendra Chahal emerged as the best bowler and finished with 3/24.
BRIEF SCORES
Delhi Capitals 228-4 (Shreyas Iyer 88*, Prithvi Shaw 66, Russell 2-29) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 210-8 (Nitish Rana 58, Eoin Morgan 44, Anrich Nortje 3-33) by 18 runs
Royal Challengers Bangalore 158-2 (Virat Kohli 72*, Devdutt Padikkal 63) beat Rajasthan Royals 154-6 (Mahipal Lomror 47, Chahal 3-24) by 8 wickets