Narine, Chakaravarthy pick 5 wkts collectively as KKR beat DC by 14 runs

New Delhi: Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy picked five wickets between themselves, including the duo making double strikes in their respective final overs, to help Kolkata Knight Riders beat Delhi Capitals by 14 runs and keep themselves in contention for an IPL 2025 playoffs spot at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.

After KKR had their batters producing quick knocks at a great strike rate to post 204/9, it did seem like the 76-run stand between Faf du Plessis, who top-scored with 62, and Axar Patel, who smashed 43 despite an injured left hand.

But Narine and Chakaravarthy, despite initial expensive spells, made decisive double strikes in the 14th and 18th overs respectively, as DC went from 136/3 to eventually finish at 190/9, and suffered their third defeat at this venue.

Narine, with 3-29, was also stand-in captain and even ran out K.L. Rahul to ensure he had a memorable game with all-round contributions, while his bowling partner Chakaravarthy took 2-39, and were also supported by Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora and Andre Russell taking a wicket each. DC’s chase began on a bad note as Abishek Porel sliced to mid-off against left-arm spinner Anukul Roy, who didn’t allow batters to break free by mixing up his deliveries nicely.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders 204/9 in 20 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44, Rinku Singh 36; Mitchell Starc 3-42, Axar Patel 2-27) beat Delhi Capitals 190/9 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 62, Axar Patel 43; Sunil Narine 3-29, Varun Chakaravarthy 2-39) by 14 runs