Picture Courtesy : BCCI
It was not the perfect homecoming Gutam Gambhir had hoped for. The Delhi Daredevils skipper returned to Eden Gardens to play against the side he captained for seven years and won two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 on a losing note. Chasing a stiff target of 200/ 9 after Gambhir had put the KKR into bat , Delhi batsmen failed to click from the start and were bowled out for mere 129 in 14.2 overs. Thus handing KKR a emphatic 71 run win. Easily the most convincing win so far in the tournament. Delhi , have now lost their third match , while KKR moves to second spot.
Glenn Maxwell (47 from 22 balls) and Rishabh Pant (43 from 26) kept Delhi in the hunt in a 62-run partnership from 32 balls. But the duo of Sunil Narine (3/18) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/32) triggered a collapse . Pant was again guilty of throwing his wicket away and once again promised a big nock only to falter. Maxwell too like ion the past after hitting two sixes in a row threw away his wicket . The Aussie still looks disinterested in the middle. The situation needed him to stay around but hew did not .
KKR removed three DD batsmen including their last match hero Jason Roy and Gambhir inside the first three overs and rattling their chase attempt. After the three blows the team could not recover as the asking rate was high.
Earlier , After a rather slow start KKR managed to reach an imposing target of 200/ 9 despite losing wickets in heap towards the end. Robin Uthappa gave the early momentum with a quick fire 35 off 19 balls . Later on Andre Russell powered the team with a typical aggressive 12 ball 41 with six sixes. He was superbly supported by Nitish Rana ( 59 off 35 balls) and DD bowlers struggled to contain them .
