JP Duminy hit a timely unbeaten 52 after skipper Dinesh Karthik set the foundation with a fighting 56-run knock as Delhi Daredevils edged out Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets in a thrilling IPL Twenty20 match, in Dubai on Saturday.
Electing to bat, KKR posted a decent 166 for five, thanks to some brilliant batting by Robin Uthappa (55) and Manish Pandey (48) at Dubai International Stadium.
Delhi Daredevils batsmen responded to the challenge well and overhauled the target with three balls to spare.
Karthik batted superbly in the top order while Duminy finished it off in style with a six off Piyush Chawla.
Like KKR, Delhi too had to endure a bad start as Murali Vijay (0) was run out in the first over. Mayank Agrawal was off to a superb start as he hit some terrific shots but could not stay long at the crease as his short but entertaining 26-run knock was ended by Morne Morkel.
Karthik and Ross Taylor had a job at hand but the Kiwi batsman was bowled by Jacques Kallis and Delhi skipper was joined by JP Duminy at the crease.
Karthik batted intelligently as he rotated the strike well and waited for bad balls to punish. He hit Piyush Chawla for a six and a four in the 10th over, gradually moving towards a half-century.
{{/usCountry}}Karthik batted intelligently as he rotated the strike well and waited for bad balls to punish. He hit Piyush Chawla for a six and a four in the 10th over, gradually moving towards a half-century.
{{/usCountry}}He completed his fifty with a sweetly timed chip off Shakib Al Hasan in the cover region but could not finish it off for his side, becoming a victim of wily spinner Sunil Narine. Attempting a reverse sweep, Karthik could not read the line and was found plumb in front of the wicket.
Delhi now needed 44 runs from five overs. Manoj Tiwary was removed by Morkel when the batsman went for a big shot but failed to clear the boundary fielder. Jimmy Neesham hit a huge six off Chawla and Duminy hit two sixes off country-mate Morkel to get close to the target.
DD required six runs off the last over, Chawla started well with a dot and wicket of Neesham in the second to make it interesting. Duminy sealed the fate of his side with a six off Chawla in the next ball.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (C), Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, R Vinay Kumar, Sunil Narine and Morne Morkel.
Delhi Daredevils: Dinesh Karthik (C), Mayank Agarwal, Murali Vijay, JP Duminy, Ross Taylor, Manoj Tiwary, James Neesham, Shadab Nadeem, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat.