DC vs KKR Highlights, IPL 2024: Tristan Stubbs and Rishabh Pant scrape fifties but inspired by Sunil Narine’s 85, Kolkata beat Delhi by 106 runs

Vaibhav Arora steams in to finish his spell. Two wickets in the powerplay, can he close the game for Kolkata? He does start off with a wicket. A cross seamer short delivery to Rasikh Dar Salam, who is hurried into a pull shot and ends up edging it straight to Phil Salt behind the stumps. Delhi are nine down for 166.

Sandip G: Rishabh Pant suddenly dropped his knees , as though he would scoop the ball. But he paused, not fully bent. In a semi-crouched pose, he waited for the ball to reach, almost suspended himself in that posture, gets a fraction away from the line of the ball to manufacture room on the leg-side, then raised his body a bit to ride the bounce and just flicked the ball away, behind square leg, with nothing but a neat swirl of the wrists. It was a stroke that was all hands and blistering bat speed. The pace of Venkatesh Iyer was perfect—neither too fast that he was compressed for time nor too slow that he was deprived of pace. Categorizing the stroke would be difficult, it was neither a scoop nor a flick, but it had elements of both. The Pant-scoop-flick, if you will. But that stroke liberated him— the knees were troubling Pant through much of the innings, he struggled for timing too, trying to overhit rather than time the ball. He ended up smearing Iyer for 28 runs in that over. The signs are there, that Pant is very nearly back to his best. A shard of light in blinding darkness.

It was only a matter of time that he got one. Having started off well and having halted Delhi from his end for most of spell, Sunil Narine removes Sumit Kumar, who gets caught off an attempted heave over deep mid wicket. Only two runs come from the over. DC are 161/8 after 16 overs.

Tristan Stubbs muscles one over covers for four to bring up his fifty. But just as it was for Rishabh Pant, he's removed after getting past the 50 mark. Caught by Mitchell Starc off a miscued shot. A third wicket for Varun Chakravarthy. He may as well have gotten a fourth, off what looked like a legitimate straightened up delivery that hit Rasikh Salam's pads but the umpire doesn't raise his finger, and KKR have no reviews left. 159/7 after 15 overs.

Sunil Narine getting battered for three sixes in an over, you seldom see it in the IPL. Tristan Stubbs, who has been among the handful of positives for DC tonight, uses brute strength to power the first over extra cover. This, by dragging back in his crease. Then, a heave over square leg for six. The final blow though, comes from Sumit Kumar. He can hit, alright. Short delivery hammered over cow corner. 148/6 after 14 overs.

Delhi lose two wickets in two deliveries. Rishabh Pant's eventful stay in the middle comes to an end. The DC skipper was eyeing another boundary but ends up holing one straight to Shreyas Iyer in the cover region. New batter in, Axar Patel goes for a wild heave slog sweep off his first delivery and is caught by Manish Pandey running in from the mid-wicket region. Chakravarthy is on a hattrick and he almost gets it. An lbw appeal against Sumit Kumar, nothing given by the umpire but Chakravarthy convinces Shreyas Iyer into going upstairs. It's not the best of reviews as the impact is clearly down the leg stump, seemed more of an emotional review this from Iyer. And KKR can afford it. 129/6 after 13 overs.

Take the fate of the game out of the picture for the moment, especially if you are a Delhi fan, and how good does it feel to see Rishabh Pant back at his boundary-hitting best. Venkatesh Iyer has had to be brought in to fill an over for the injured Harshit Rana. And it doesn't go well for the all-rounder.

4,6,6,4,4,4

Pant starts off with a crouch-hit over short fine for four before shifting the gears to bag two sixes in a row. He closes the over - the most expensive of the game - with three more fours. 125/4 after 12 overs.

Chakravarthy continues from the other end. Another good over despite the boundary off the last ball. One won't hurt KKR at the moment. Stubbs clears his front leg and rockets a full-in drifter down the ground for four. 11 runs come from the over but it's advantage Kolkata right now. 97/4 after 11 overs.

Sunil Narine into his second over. He's mounting up the pressure from one end. The runs didn't stop when he was batting, and they aren't coming as he bowls. Holding the length slightly back, but not so much as giving a hint of short length for Pant or Stubbs to peg back into their crease and maul him square. Just the four runs from his latest. Delhi are 87/4 at the halfway stage.

Spin from both ends as Varun Chakravarthy replaces Andre Russell. Tristan Stubbs clubs him over cow corner off the first ball for six. A delivery later, Chakravarthy goes short of a length and Stubbs muscles the ball over the bowler's head for six. The approach for Delhi is as clear as it could be. 83/4 after nine overs.

Sunil Narine into the attack. He was phenomenal with the bat, can he muster something special with the ball here. Starts off with an economical first over, just the five runs off it. Delhi are 70/4 after eight overs.

Captain Rishabh Pant is keeping the flame from dousing in Vizag. A pair of maximums this time around for the southpaw. Andre Russell is the new bowler for KKR. He goes full with an off-cutter on the first instance, Pant meets it with a heave over deep square leg. Then comes a short delivery, and the southpaw pulls it over the same region for another maximum. 65/4 after seven overs.

A couple of boundaries for Tristan Stubbs early in his innings. Stabs a length ball outside the off stump for four down short third followed by a wild heave-ho down his crease to play a pull shot but instead finds a thick edge that runs down fine leg for four. 11 runs from the over as the field restrictions are lifted. Delhi, 51/4 after six overs.

That should be it for Delhi on the night. Their best batter of the tournament so far, David Warner has just played an outside off stump delivery onto his middle stump. Mitchell Starc gets his second wicket of the night. The camera pans to the DC dugout with head coach Ricky Ponting and Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly seated, devoid of hope. Rishabh Pant closes the over with a six, but even for him, this should be too massive a task. 40/4 after five overs.

A second batter removed without bothering the scoreboard. Abhishek Porel - the Impact Player - hurries into a pull shot off a short delivery and ends up top-edging it straight to Sunil Narine at short fine. Delhi lose a third wicket in the powerplay. 27/3 after four overs.

Mitchell Marsh joins David Warner in the middle. There are four leg byes for the Capitals but Marsh is looking for more. A length ball outside off, and he looks to slap it through the off side, but hands it straight down Ramandeep Singh's throat at short point. It's taken longer than most at KKR would've wanted it, but Mitchell Starc finally has his first wicket of the season. 26/2 after three overs.

Vaibhav Arora to canters in from the other end. David Warner welcomes him with a couple of boundaries, the last of which lands not too far away from Sunil Narine down the fine leg fence. But the 26-year-old makes a good comeback with Prithvi Shaw on the strike. Nips one in to the right-hander and there's a loud lbw appeal. Nothing given by the umpire. Shreyas Iyer goes upstairs. But the KKR players don't even wait for the ball tracker, one replay is enough for them to believe it's too high, which it is. 

But off the very next delivery - back of a length - Shaw plays a loose pull and Varun Chakravarthy takes a good diving forward catch at mid on. There's a check from the umpires to confirm it's a clean one, it is. First wicket for KKR, 21/1 after two overs. 

Right then, KKR would reckon they are in the driving seat here. But one thing this season has already shown us is that 273 -even more -is scoreable. 

Mitchell Starc, who's had a nightmarish start to the season, has the new ball. Prithvi Shaw, who made his first start for DC this year in their win against CSK, has started strong again. A cut shot followed by a smash through the off side to make it two boundaries in the first over. 11/0 after the first over.

10 days ago, the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Mumbai Indians gave T20 cricket its highest scoring game and IPL its first-ever 500 plus run match. Scoring 277, SRH also posted the highest-ever total in the league's history. KKR coming in touching distance of the same tonight just goes to show once again that the ceiling of power-hitting has only gone up. But power-hitting coach Julian Wood reckons it's crucial that one doesn't mistake the science behind power hitting with street cricket's lappas. (Read more)

Amidst the mayhem of boundaries, Ishant Sharma produced a yorker of bewildering precision. In the last over, KKR’s score on 264, Andre Russell in murderous touch, the forgotten Ishant Sharma conjured a toe-crusher from dreams. The ball fizzed low, veered frantically into middle and leg stump, seamed in a fraction and snuck underneath Russell’s desperate attempt to stub it out of dismantling his stumps. So fierce a ball that Russell lost his balance and lay spread on the floor. He gathered himself, winked at Ishant Sharma and shook his head in appreciation. The on-field screen flashed the speed of the ball—144 kph. Good old Ishant, shoved into wilderness, supposedly past his prime at 36, a link to another era of Indian cricket, showed he still has the fire and skill within him. It might not sit along the Ricky Ponting beauty in his greatest hit albums, or the dreamy knuckleball last IPL to befuddle Vijay Shankar, but Ishant showed he still can belt out a few old numbers.

That's it the carnage comes to an end eventually. The moment Pant decided to not review Narine's edge everything went downhill for Capitals. While it has been poor bowling also it has been some brutal range-hitting from KKR batters especially Narine who started the onslaught. Will the Capitals chase it? Highly unlikely but if even they get close we might have witnessed another six-hitting fest in the second half.

KKR has reached 264 with over remaining and looks like they are going to take over SRH's 277 here in Vizag. This has been a brutal power-hitting display from Knight Riders. WHo would have thought we would be here after 19 overs when Iyer opted to bat first?

Khaleel delivers a semi-decent over giving just 15 runs away. In addition to bowling a decent over he also picked the wicket of Russell. Irrespective of what KKR makes from here it requires an effort out of their skins from DC to chase these runs. 

That is a massive over for KKR yet again. Marsh has been the best bowler for the Capitals so far in the evening and Pant tried his luck one more over with him but Russell and Iyer where having none of it as his military medium short balls were only troubling the crowds after they were smacked for sixes.

One of the stars of India's 2022 U19 World Cup triumph, Angkrish Raghuvanshi has started life in the IPL in fine fashion. A 25 ball half century by the youngster against DC in Vizag was filled with some jaw-dropping classic strokeplay but also a dash of innovation sprinkled in. Angkrish, who wears No 18 and was India's top scorer at the World Cup couple of years back, impressed with his wrist work back then and also the ability to play the pickup shot over midwicket. The 18-year-old, walking in at No 3 on Wednesday to join a rampant Sunil Narine, showed why he is so highly rated. A reverse scoop for six off a pacer was a highlight as was a swat over midwicket. Even when Narine was lighting up the stadium, Angkrish didn't just sit back and play second fiddle. He took DC's bowlers on. He moved from Delhi to Mumbai as a kid to pursue his cricket but now Kolkata is where he has the chance to shine at the highest level..

Pratyush Raj: Delhi-born Angkrish Raghuvanshi on Friday made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as an impact player. Raghuvanshi left Gurgaon at the age of 11 and moved to Mumbai to hone his skills. The opener amassed 278 runs in the 2022 U-19 World Cup, where India ended up being the champion under tthe captaincy of yas Dhull. 

Angkrish younger brother Krishan, a tennis player, was detected blood cancer when he was a toddler. 

“Angkrish used to sleep with us in the hospitals. Those five years were the most dreadful. He will never leave his baby brother alone. Yes, we have provided him with everything, but the process of Krishan's treatment made him mentally tough,” Angkrish's Mother  Malika Raghuvanshi had told this newspaper. 

Raghuvanshi made his List A and T20 debut for Mumbai in 2023. However, the 18-year-old has an excellent CK Nayudu Trophy, where he amassed 765 runs in nine matches. 

The returns in the domestic white-ball tournaments were not eye-catching but he was picked by KKR in the auction, where Abhishek Nayar his childhood coach is memeber of the support staff.

Nortje brought into attack bowls a bumper which Raghuvanshi tries to play a ramp shot and hits it to fine-leg who was almost as fine as the wicket-keeper on the boundary. While it is a clever bit of tactic from the Capitals for the last 10 minutes both Narine and Raghuvanshi did a lot of damage already.

That is excellent bowling from Mitchell Marsh he finally picks the dangerous man. He closed one side of the wicket just bowling the outside the off-stump asking Narine to hit on the leg-side he does and edges to Pant. Much needed wicket for the Capitals. 

From a mystery spinner who could bat a bit, Sunil Narine has transformed into a old-fashioned pinch-hitter who could produce a few tight overs and a wicket or two. As the mystery of bowling faded, the destructiveness of  his batting soared. Batsmen no longer fear him as they once used to, rather has transferred that feeling to crestfallen new-ball bowlers. He has been diligently ironing out his flaws too, like the short-ball susceptibility. He is more composed in playing short balls these days, either swaying away from the line or slicing and cutting, when wide outside the off-stump. He uncorks the pull too, if the ball is not express quick.  There is no mystery about his batting—he has stripped it down to the essentials, that is to hit a ball as long and clean as he could. It’s not shocking to listen to him saying that batting was his first love. “I love batting and batting is something I always enjoyed and I'm still enjoying it. I think bowling came second. I always put more focus on batting and at age 18-19, bowling took over. So I started batting less, which probably didn't help but at the end of the day, it happened. And I wouldn’t have it the other way,” he had once said. And his love for batting is flowing untrammeled like a furious stream.

The way both batters are batting at the moment we might see SRH's highest score breached. Raghuvanshi has been as brutal as Narine has been and it has been clean-range hitting from him as well. This is not at all looking good for Delhi Capitals at the moment. 

Mitchell Marsh has been brought into the attack by DC and he bowled a decent over compared to what has happened before. He took the pace off the ball and kept hitting into the pitch which the batters were reluctant to take risks against. 

While Narine has been batting well Raghuvanshi too has been going on his merry way. He is playing some sumptuous shots at the moment. While he was named in the 15 last game he could not get an opportunity however today he is showing what he can do. 

The sound the bat is making as Narine is smacking the boundaries is unreal. Vizag crowd here is witnessing the cleanest striking of cricket ball they have ever seen. It is just to see the ball hit the ball on the length stuff from Narine. This is turning into agony for DC now. 

Narine has scored his first fifty of the season. That has been some hitting from the batter. Irrespective of the bowler and pace which they bowled he smacked them all over the ground. DC need to be wary of how they go from here as Narine is ruthless against spinners in the middle overs. 

Phillip Salt vrooms into fifth gear from ball one; his partner Sunil Narine throws his bat wantonly at the ball straightaway. The unusual pair have furnished lightning starts to KKR, 60 off 4.3 overs against DC . Salt is brutal square of the wicket, his boundary-strokes a melange of fierce cuts, slices and swishes. He is a modern-day T20 buccaneer, but without the pyrotechnics. Narine, on the other hand, is a throwback, the one you come across in the tennis-ball cricket circuit, blessed with impeccable hand-eye coordination. His hitting is ludicrously simple, yet unstoppable when he gets going. He lurches to the back-foot,  opens up his body, clears his front-leg and swings the ball wherever he wants to. He does the basics so well, that he seldom goes across, seldom attempts fancy strokes and often looks to hit down the ground with his body facing the bowler. Salt has stuck at a strike rate of 141; Narine at 202.

Warner dropped Phil Salt however, Nortje got the batter following the ball when he hit the ball and it went up in the air straight to mid-wicket. Inspired bowling change from Pant. Raghuvanshi has walked into the middle and started with a boundary.

Narine has found his range here in Vizag he is hitting the ball all around the ground. Ishant tried to hit bowl him short and paid the price as he smacked them into the leg-side for mammoth sixes. Through the over Pant and Ishant constantly kept changing the field without much results. 

Khaleel has come back for his second over and he has been taken off a pasting by KKR batters. He tried to pitch the ball up and look for swing which the batters cashed upon and drove nicely through both on-side and off-side. This is once again a solid start for KKR.

Ishant Sharma took the second over for DC and he did trouble Narine by bowling back-of-light to him. However, when Salt came on strike Ishant continued to use the same tactic which the batter hit for a couple of boundaries. 

Khaleel Ahmed starts with an eight-ball over. He sprayed the ball all over the pitch making it easier for KKR batters. As the over went on his lengths got better but he needed a better second over. As we update Ishant Sharma has taken the new ball from the other end. 

This once again looks like a belter of a pitch and the square boundaries are on the smaller side. Both the umpires are walking into the middle it is going to be a fascinating first half as Iyer reckons it might take some turn in the second innings. 

Delhi Capitals Subs: Abishek Porel, Kumar Kushagra, Praveen Dubey, Lalit Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk

Kolkata Knight Riders Subs: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Rahmanullah Gurbazni

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed

Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

We would have batted first as well, could get a bit slower. It was nice to be back with the group, but I'm not thinking too far ahead. Thew bowlers did a great job, the fast bowlers, and we'd like them to do it once again. Not thinking about the team combination for the first two games, but we've had people working hard in the nets. We just need to keep doing the right things - one change, Mukesh is injured and he's replaced by Sumit.

We'll bat first. The wicket looks like a belter, no drastic change in the wicket when compared to the last game. It's been quite a journey, was a with Delhi and now with KKR, I'm comfortable with this switch. Anything can happen on a given day, it's important to stick to the process. We've Sunil (Narine) coming in and going after the bowlers in the first 6 overs, so his role is very clear and the rest know what's expected of them. One change - Angrish Raghuvanshi comes in

It's nice and cool - it's not a big ground, the side boundaries are 60m each and the straight boundary is at 74m. It looks like a well prepared surface, it looks very hard and with not much grass. Because of its hardness, there will not be a lot in it for the spinners, variations will be the key for the pacers. Khaleel Ahmed spoke about getting more swing due to the wind and it's something to look forward to. Generally, this looks like an easy and true surface with the batters able to score across all the parts of the ground, reckons Ian Bishop

“When I was struggling with my glove work in international matches, I asked him (Dhoni), ‘Bhaiya, I don’t make too many mistakes in IPL matches but while playing for India, I fumble a lot. Bhaiya said, ‘Play international matches like you play the IPL’,” Pant said in his interview to Star Sports.

Coach Sharma says that while Dhoni has always mentored Pant over the years, in these past 14 months, he has been more of an elder brother.

“Dhoni kept talking to him, motivating him. He had his arm around Rishabh’s shoulder when he needed it the most. Even at Rishabh’s sister’s engagement, Dhoni was very active,” says Sharma.

In his interview with Star Sports, Pant spoke of his relationship with M S Dhoni and how he often jokes with the former India captain about setting the bar too high.

“Mai bolta hun aap toh legend ban gaye aur mere liye muskil kar gaye (I tell Dhoni, you have become a legend and it has made my life difficult),” Pant said, talking of how he is often compared to his mentor Dhoni.

Pant’s style of play and exuberance, including those cheeky one-liners behind the stumps, have drawn comparisons with Dhoni. As IPL captain and in his wicketkeeper-batsman role, Pant had even started to redefine the boundaries of coolness Dhoni set as India’s crisis man.

"We are carrying a lot of momentum and also great energy in the team. There's nothing like success. We totally trust in our plans and we are up for it."

"CSK also came with two wins, but we played our best cricket. It's not about what they are coming up with, but it's about how we are playing and will focus on what best we can give. We also look to finish on a winning note as it will be our last game in Vizag."

On the Club Prairie Fire podcast co-hosted by former England captain Michael Vaughan and his childhood hero Adam Gilchrist, Pant revealed what his return to cricket meant for him.

“I am excited but nervous at the same time. When you are sitting outside talking about the return it is a different thing. But when you return inside the field, it is a completely different atmosphere. I am having goosebumps thinking about it,” said Pant.

A question that has accompanied Pant’s much anticipated return to the field is whether there will be changes in the way he plays his cricket.

Speaking to The Indian Express, former India wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra anticipates a couple of challenges: “The knee takes a lot of load while doing the squats… He might have to change his wicketkeeping technique a bit. For example, now lots of keepers don’t crouch fully against the seamers. That could be one of the changes.”

After being bedridden for almost 45 days, Pant posted an image of himself walking on his terrace using crutches. “One step stronger, one step better,” read the caption. On April 5, 2023, with a heavily strapped knee, he made his first public appearance during the Delhi Capitals’ match against Gujarat Titans in Delhi.

A month later, on May 5, he posted a heartwarming video of walking without the crutches. A month later, he posted another video, this time of him walking up a flight of stairs.

In July, he started his strength training and two months later, started jogging. In the meantime, he went on a trip to Kedarnath and Badrinath. MLA Umesh, who accompanied him, says, “After the surgery, I promised him that once he started walking I would take him to Kedar and Badri. When he started running, he gave me a call and said, let’s go. After those seven days that I spent with him in the Dehradun hospital, to see him walking, doing all his spidey stuff on the hilly terrain was so heartwarming.”

“He (Rishabh Pant) kept shouting through the night. I can still hear those screams. He was having anxiety attacks. He tried to keep his cool but he was in unbearable pain,” Umesh tells The Indian Express.

He shudders at the memory of the sight that awaited him at the hospital when he landed there after answering a phone call from Pant’s mother Saroj at 6:15 in the morning.

“His teeth were the only thing that wasn’t red,” says Umesh, recalling what he saw of a bloodsoaked Pant. “When I saw the burning car in the accident video, I couldn’t believe he came out alive. When I later asked him, he smiled saying, ‘Bhaiya, aap aa gaye (brother, you are here),” says Umesh, MLA from Uttarakhand’s Khanpur constituency.

Nicholas Pooran tonked the ball on the roof of the stadium as he hit a monster 106metre sixer against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday. Pooran thus joined Kolkata Knight Riders batter Venkatesh Iyer at the top of the standings for the longest sixers in IPL 2024. Incidentally, Venkatesh Iyer’s 106-metre hit also came against the Royal Challenger Bengaluru (on March 29) in Bengaluru.

Pooran punished the bowling of Reece Topley in the 19th over of the first innings in the RCB vs LSG game, hitting the bowler for three consecutive sixers. The third one — where Topley attempted the slower ball and tried to go short outside off — was devastatingly landed on the roof over deep midwicket.

CSK, KKR, RR and LSG are the four sides, that are currently in the top four. The top four teams will qualify for the playoffs. The top two teams will play in the first playoffs, the winner will go straight into the final. The eliminator will be played between teams, who are placed third and fourth. The winner of the eliminator will lock horns against the losing team of playoff one. The winner of the second playoff will enter the final, which will be held at May 26.

Philip Salt(wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Impact Sub: Vaibhav Arora/Sakib Hussain.