Who won yesterday's (April 29) Indian Premier League (IPL) match? Varun Chakravarthy picked up three key wickets to derail Delhi Capitals' batting, and Phil Salt then smashed an aggressive fifty as Kolkata Knight Riders completed an easy seven-wicket victory at the Eden Gardens. (As It Happened | Scorecard)
Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, DC put up a below-par total of 153 for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs. It was a testament to their struggles that among all the batters, Kuldeep Yadav was Delhi's top-scorer. The left-arm spinner finished not out on 35 off 26 balls. Openers Prithvi Shaw and Jake Fraser-McGurk scored 13 and 12 runs off 7 balls each, respectively.
Captain Rishabh Pant scratched around a bit and scored 27 off 20 balls before being dismissed by Chakravarthy. The 'mystery spinner' struck thrice in the middle overs to complement Vaibhav Arora's splendid start as KKR restricted DC to an eminently gettable 153/9.
In response, the hosts banked on opener Salt's pyrotechnics. The 27-year-old English top-order batter hit 68 runs off 33 balls with seven fours and five sixes to boot.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer stayed not out on 33 off 23 balls, and so did Venkatesh Iyer (26 not out off 23 balls). The home team got past the target in just 16.3 overs, losing three wickets in the process.
Chakravarthy was named the Player of the Match for his critical bowling performance. The spinner returned splendid figures of 3/16.
Points Table Update
After the defeat, DC are down to the sixth spot in the IPL 2024 points table, while KKR are second behind Rajasthan Royals with 12 points. DC will next play against Rajasthan Royals on May 7 in Delhi, and KKR will take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on May 3.
IPL 2024 Play-Offs Scenario
Table-toppers RR are at 16 points, and look set to become the first team to qualify for the IPL 2024 play-offs. But they aren't yet assured of a play-off spot mathematically, as all teams except Royal Challengers Bengaluru (formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore) can still reach 16 points.
