Kolkata: Kuldeep Yadav nearly took a hattrick as Delhi Capitals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 40 runs in the the last league match of the IPL here on Sunday. In a dead rubber that didn’t start out as one, KKR tried six bowlers after electing to field but still allowed Delhi Capitals to finish with 203/5. KL Rahul hit a 30-ball 60 before David Miller’s 19-ball 28 and Ashutosh Sharma’s unbeaten 11-ball 18 helped Delhi Capitals finish on a strong note.
That this match was of academic interest came to be known by the end of the third over with Rajasthan Royals knocking out Punjab Kings and KKR with a 30-run win against Mumbai Indians. Till then however, it made complete sense for KKR to choose to chase since the net run rate had to be vastly improved should there have been even an iota of a chance of qualifying.
Finishing off on a high was still on the cards and Finn Allen started in brisk manner as usual before he was bowled by Lungi Ngidi. Manish Pandey raced to 25 off 16 but KKR lost him as well as Cameron Green in the space of seven balls. Then came the double blow in the 14th over with Ajinkya Rahane first being caught at long-off, followed by Rinku Singh chipping him at long-off for a first-ball duck. Next ball, Yadav got a faint edge off Tejasvi Dahiya’s bat but wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel put down the catch. Dahiya lasted two more balls before being dismissed by Axar Patel, triggering a slide KKR had little chance of recovering from.