Kolkata were off to a decent start with Finn Allen dazzling the crowd, scything through the decorated Mitchell Starc with a 4 off his first over and then a straight 80m six over the bowler’s head followed by a four in the Aussie’s second over. Auqib Nabi was also met with the same disdain as Allen placed him for a four through wide mid-on even as skipper Ajinkya Rahane slammed him over the ropes for back-to-back sixes with the KKR openers cutting the Delhi bowling lineup to shreds.

Kuldeep Yadav of Delhi Capitals bowling during Match 70. (Photo by R Param / CREIMAS for IPL)

But the party did not last long as Allen completely missed a hoick, leading to Lungi Ngidi rattling his stumps for 20 runs. New man Manish Pandey got a six of his own in the 6th over as the Knights managed 55/1 in the powerplay. The KKR batters refused to let up with both Pandey and Rahane finding sixes off DC skipper Axar Patel in the 8th over. The hell for leather approach ultimately cost the Knights as Pandey was caught in the deep by Starc off Ngidi for 25.

Kuldeep would then account for Cameron Green who perfectly found David Miller in the deep for 2. Rahane, meanwhile, continued chipping away at the target, completing his half century in the 11th over. The Kolkata captain departed a couple of overs later as Kuldeep snapped him up for 63 runs. Rinku Singh lasted just one ball, holing out to Tristan Stubbs in the deep for 0 as Kuldeep notched up his third. Axar then put KKR 6 down cleaning up Tejasvi Dahiya for 1 while a bullet throw from Ashutosh Sharma from the deep found Rovman Powell well out of his crease. With their last ray of hope snuffed out, Kolkata finished with 163 with Ngidi also finishing with 3 wickets.

KL Rahul stars with 60 as KKR bowlers left wanting

Just into the 4th over of the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals match, news trickled in that Rajasthan Royals had defeated Mumbai Indians in the afternoon encounter. And just like that, a must-win game at Eden Gardens turned into a dead rubber with both KKR and Punjab Kings getting eliminated from the play-offs with Rajasthan qualifying as the fourth team.

But skipper Rahane wouldn’t have known that at the toss, sending the Delhi contingent to bat first with the aim of chasing down the target in a quick manner. However, their bowlers were initially left wanting with Abishek Porel and KL Rahul getting off to a fast start. After Anukul Roy was taken for 10 in the first over, Green was slammed for 14 runs in the third. It went from bad to worse for the Knights after Porel was dropped at 23 by wicketkeeper Dahiya.

KL Rahul of Delhi Capitals batting during Match 70. (Photo by R Param / CREIMAS for IPL)

It didn’t do much damage in the long run though as the economical Saurabh Dubey forced Porel to nick behind to the keeper for 22 runs. Sunil Narine yielded 11 off the 6th with Sahil Parakh hitting him for a maximum and a four as Delhi managed to reach 53/1 after powerplay. The wily West Indies allrounder had the last laugh though, sending Parakh back for 24 in the 10th over.

Rahul, however, continued undeterred, taking Narine apart with a straight six and a four before going after Kartik Tyagi in the 11th over as another maximum and a boundary helped Delhi get to 100 runs as well as his half century. The Karnataka batter continued to up the ante but a dragged shot failed to get the required distance as he holed out to Powell in the deep off Anukul for 60 runs.

After Rahul fell, Delhi’s momentum was stifled with the 14th to 16th overs yielding a total of just 23 runs with some occasional big hits, including a 4 from Axar and a six by Miller. Axar changed gears in the 17th bowled by Chakaravarthy, spanking him for two sixes before falling to the mystery spinner for 39 runs. Delhi ended up finishing their innings on a high with Miller (28) and Ashutosh (18*) pulling off some lusty blows at the death as they posted a target of 203/5.

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals (KL Rahul 60, Axar Patel 39; Saurabh Dubey 2/28) defeat Kolkata Knight Riders (Ajinkya Rahane 63; Kuldeep Yadav 3/29, Lungi Ngidi 3/27)