Kolkata, May 24 (IANS) Delhi Capitals rode on KL Rahul’s fluent 30-ball 60 and late fireworks from David Miller, who smashed a 19-ball 28, to post 203/5, their highest total at Eden Gardens, in their 20 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.
It was an innings from DC where everyone chipped in with cameos to take the side past 200-mark, with Rahul smashing clean boundaries at a strike-rate of 200 being the standout knock. DC will now look to defend the total and sign off from the competition on a high. For KKR, Saurabh Dubey was the standout bowler with 2-28 in his four overs.
Inserted into batting first, Rahul and Abishek Porel gave DC a brisk start. Porel cracked successive boundaries off Anukul Roy in the opening over and added more fours off Kartik Tyagi, while Rahul lifted Cameron Green for a six and four in the third over. But Porel fell for 22 in the fourth over after edging Dubey behind to the keeper.
Sahil Parakh joined Rahul and the pair kept the tempo high. The teenaged Parakh struck Narine for a six and four, while Rahul cleared him for a six slammed straight down the ground, before punching the wily off-spinner over his head for another boundary. Varun Chakaravarthy was taken for boundaries by Parakh, before giving a catch to Ajinkya Rahane off Narine and fell for 24.
Rahul, however, raced to his fifth fifty of this season off 25 balls, before he and Axar Patel took two boundaries each off Tyagi and Roy. But Rahul fell to Roy in the 13th over by holing out to long-off. Axar and Miller then steadied the innings, adding crucial runs against spinners.
Axar’s 39 off 25 included two sixes, before he was dismissed by Chakaravarthy in the 17th over. After that, Miller took charge in the death overs by smashing Dubey for three sixes, even as Ashutosh Sharma chipped in by striking a six and four off Tyagi and was unbeaten on 18. With KKR dropping catches, DC capitalised to add 63 runs in the last five overs and put KKR on the path of a stiff chase.
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 203/5 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 60, Axar Patel 39; Saurabh Dubey 2-28, Anukul Roy 1-23) against Kolkata Knight Riders
–IANS
nr/