Sunil Narine and Nathan Coulter- Nile's controlled bowling effort enabled Kolkata Knight Riders restrict Delhi Daredevils to 168 for seven despite smashing innings from Rishabh Pant in an Indian Premier League match here today.
Off to a blazing start after opting to bat, Sanju Samson and Sam Billings laid a solid platform for Delhi with a quick 53-run opening stand but after the two got dismissed, KKR bowlers led by Nathan Coulter-Nile dominated the middle overs to put a leash on the increasing run-rate.
For Delhi, it was young Pant, who smashed 38 off 16 balls to take the team past 160-run mark.
It was the 17th over bowled by Umesh Yadav, which yielded 26 runs. Pant launched into a furious assault hitting him for three sixes and two fours in that over.
Coulter-Nile was the pick of the Kolkata bowlers, finishing with impressive figures of three for 22, while Narine chipped in with economical one for 20.
To begin with, Samson took the Kolkata bowlers by the scruff of their necks, and was dealing in boundaries since the very first over.
The only centurion of the season so far, Samson made his intentions clear from the very beginning, hitting Nathan Coulter-Nile for two back-to-back boundaries, which saw the Daredevils getting off the blocks in the opening over of the match.
Billings, ably supported Samson, rotating the strike well and hitting occasional boundaries.
Samson was severe on Umesh Yadav as he struck him for three boundaries to set the tone for the Daredevils to reach a competitive total.
Umesh was the most expensive of the KKR bowlers with figures of 4-0-53-1.
Even the introduction of Kuldeep Yadav and Narine failed to stop Delhi as they cruised to 53 for no loss in the Powerplay overs.
The fronmt 10 saw DD reach 83 for 2 with both Samson (39) and Billings (21) being dismissed.
It was between overs 10 to 16 that Delhi managed only 36 runs despite a good start before Pant carried out a redemption act during the end overs.
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