Forgettable debut for Litton as Delhi record first win this season

After five straight defeats, Delhi Capitals finally opened their account in the 16th edition of IPL. It was far from straightforward for Delhi though, huffing and puffing their way to the target of 128 with four wickets in hand and four balls to spare against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Thursday.

A collective bowling effort by Delhi – Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav picked two wickets apiece – was responsible for keeping KKR down to 127.

Skipper David Warner was the top-scorer for Delhi, hitting 57 off 41 balls. But his dismissal in the 14th over almost resulted in Delhi botching up the chase. Barring Sunil Narine who conceded 36 runs in his four overs, the KKR spinners were extremely effective in applying the choke. Even KKR skipper Nitish Rana, a part-time off-spinner, was difficult to get away. In his four overs, he took 2/17.

Delhi, whose batting crippled them in their five losses, were off to a rollicking start in their run chase with 31 runs on the board in the first three overs. Warner has been ridiculed for his strike rate this season, but he was able to pepper the boundary with ease in the early stages of his innings on Thursday.

Though Prithvi Shaw – brought on as an Impact Player – was dismissed cheaply once again, Warner took Delhi to 61/1 at the end of the powerplay. KKR might have hoped that Sunil Narine will be able to check the run flow, but he too bore the brunt of the left-hander's might. The experienced spinner conceded four fours in the sixth over of the innings.

While Mitchell Marsh and Phil Salt were dismissed in successive overs, it was Warner's wicket that KKR were keenly after. Having brought up his fifty off 33 deliveries, the Australian would have ideally liked to see the chase through. He was dismissed in the 14th over of the innings by Varun Chakaravarthy. With 35 needed off the final six overs, Delhi should have crossed the finish line with more ease than they managed.

Intermittent rain resulted in the game starting an hour later than scheduled, and the Delhi bowlers took advantage of the assistance early on. Knight Riders were reduced to 35/3 after the first six overs, all three wickets falling as a result of the extra bounce on offer. While Litton Das was dismissed pulling a short ball by Mukesh Kumar to Lalit Yadav at square leg, Nortje found Venkatesh Iyer's outside edge with a length delivery that climbed on him. That Warner chose to keep Marsh at slip paid dividends.

Rana was also dismissed during the powerplay, attempting an uppish on-drive against Ishant but only managing to hit the ball to Kumar at mid-on.

Mandeep Singh hit a six during his 11-ball 12, but he was too cheeky for his own good against Axar. Attempting a ramp over short fine-leg for four, he was bowled after failing to make a connection.

Soon, left-handed batters Rinku Singh and Narine holed out in the deep while going for big hits. Narine was dismissed by Ishant, who finished with excellent figures of 4-0-19-2. It was a noteworthy comeback to the league for the 34-year-old pacer after he went unsold last season.

All this while, Jason Roy stayed constant at one end. The England opener, making his debut for Kolkata Knight Riders, began with consecutive fours against Kumar, flicking a delivery on the pads through midwicket and then imperiously driving a ball outside off-stump through the cover region.

But as wickets kept falling, Roy too stumbled. A six-over long-on against Kuldeep in the tenth over was his only boundary for a spell of seven overs after the powerplay.

At 77/6 after 13 overs, KKR were in desperate need of a few boundaries. Andre Russell's pull over midwicket for six and Roy's cut through point for four resulted in 15 runs in Marsh's over, but any hope of a brisk partnership were undone by the opener's wicket in the very next over. He miscued a sweep off a googly to Aman Khan at deep backward square leg. Kuldeep stuck to the googly for his next ball too and trapped KKR's impact sub Anukul Roy leg-before wicket.

With KKR nine down when 26 balls were still left in the innings, the onus was entirely on Russell to find the boundary. It was a strange innings by Russell though. At the start of the 20th over, he had faced 25 deliveries for only 19 runs. He made some amends in the final over by Kumar with three consecutive sixes.