Delhi Capitals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 18 runs in another high-scoring drama at Sharjah Cricket Stadium to move top of the points table. Shreyas Iyer played a fantastic knock of unbeaten 88 runs in 38 balls after Prithvi Shaw's opening act propelled Delhi Capitals to a massive 228/4 after being put in to bat first by Dinesh Karthik. Iyer slammed 7 fours and 6 sixes during his marvellous innings.
The target was difficult but not impossible but Delhi produced the best effort by a pace bowling unit on a placid track with KKR finishing at 210 for 8.
Chasing the massive target, Nitish Rana played a fantastic knock of 58 runs in 35 balls to provide a set up for KKR, later followed by Eoin Morgan (44) and Rahul Tripathi (36). The pair smashed 24 runs in the 17th over and 23 runs off the 18th over.
Anrich Nortje was the pick of the bowler as he scalped three-wicket for 33 runs. With 31 to get from 12 balls, Nortje bowled a superb 19th over getting rid of Morgan and only giving five runs in the process.
With 26 needed off the last over, Marcus Stoinis (1/46 in 4 overs) proved his utility as a bowler by removing Tripathi with a slower yorker after being smashed by the batsman in an earlier over. While, Harshal Patel, as Ishant Sharma's replacement, did well enough to finish with 2 for 34 in 4 overs.
Earlier, apart from Iyer and Shaw, Rishabh Pant (38 off 17 balls) dusted off his rustiness with a quickfire knock. DC were stopped from reaching 250 by Andre Russell who conceded just seven runs in the final over.
The fans on social media went crazy as they witnessed another run-fest at Sharjah. The Twitterati hailed the performances of Iyer, Morgan, Tripathi and Nortje in the high-voltage drama.
