New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Kolkata Knight Riders’ spinners once again dictated terms as the three‑time champions restricted Delhi Capitals to 142/8 in their IPL 2026 clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday, with veteran off-spinner Sunil Narine saying that the superlative performance is down to the value of hard work and preparation in the nets.
On a dry pitch with cracks opening up, DC threatened to post a big total through Pathum Nissanka’s fluent 29‑ball fifty. But KKR’s spin trio of Narine, Anukul Roy, and Varun Chakravarthy applied the choke to derail DC and restrict them to 142/8.
“I think it comes down to hard work and a lot of time spent in the nets. We have a very strong bowling group; the seamers and the spinners work together to contain the opposition in the middle overs. I think if you allow the spinners to dictate terms without showing enough intent, it makes our job much easier,” said Narine in a mid-innings chat with the broadcasters.
The slowdown was dramatic – between overs 11 and 16, DC managed only 20 runs for two wickets, the lowest tally in that phase across IPL 2026, according to CricViz. Looking ahead to the chase, Narine said, “Hopefully, our batters can apply pressure in the Powerplay, get a good start, and build the momentum needed to finish the game as clinically as possible.
“When your plans start working midway, you gain that necessary self‑belief. It’s about sticking to our strategies, respecting the game, and focusing on execution. I never believe any total is ‘small’ in the IPL. We’ll look to win the Power-play, rotate the strike in the middle overs, and take the game deep. If we keep wickets in hand, it should be a successful chase,” he added.
On a pitch which had some dry cracks, KKR’s vaunted spin attack dismantled DC’s batting line-up after they had a bright time in the Power-play, with Pathum Nissanka making a 29-ball fifty. While Anukul Roy stood out by taking 2-31, Sunil Narine (1-17) and Varun Chakaravarthy (0-28) were also miserly in their spells to apply the spin choke on DC.
Such was the effect of the slowdown that from overs 11-16, DC scored just 20 runs for the loss of two wickets and as per CricViz, this is the lowest number of runs scored in this particular phase of the innings in any game in IPL 2026. It took Ashutosh Sharma’s late 28-ball 39 to take DC past 140, but the batting issues continued to haunt the hosts, with Kartik Tyagi being excellent in the back end to pick 2-25.
–IANS
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