Attacking spin bowling and commanding batting performance helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to overpower Delhi Capitals (DC) by 7 wickets at the Eden Gardens. Chasing 154, KKR opener Phil Salt continued his onslaught, scoring a 23-ball 68, smashing 7 fours and 5 sixes. Salt, meanwhile, set a record during his valiant knock, scoring the highest number of runs (343) for KKR at Eden Gardens in a single IPL season.

Earlier, Rishabh Pant’s decision to bat first appeared to falter, as DC lost three wickets inside the powerplay overs. Vaibhav Arora dismissed Prithvi Shaw (13) and Shai Hope (6) while Mitchell Starc removed dangerous Jake Fraser-McGurk for 12. Abishek Porel (18) followed them, losing his wicket after trying to play an innovative shot. From thereon, it was Varun Chakaravarthy’s show as the right-arm spinner bowled brilliantly to trouble the DC batters.

First, he got the important wicket of Pant (27) and then dismissed Tristan Stubbs (4), capable of playing a big knock. Although wickets kept falling, Kuldeep Yadav fought till the end and played a crucial knock of 35, giving the DC bowlers a decent total to defend. Chakaravarthy’s starred with a three-wicket while Arora and Harshit Rana picked up two each, restricting DC to 153/9.

Salt gave a fiery start to KKR’s chase, smacking DC bowlers all over the park. Sunil Narine and Rinku Sigh chipped in with 15 and 11 respectively. Salt departed after placing KKR in a commanding position. Shreyas Iyer (33) and Venkatesh Iyer (26) stitched a 57-run partnership to take KKR home with 21 balls to spare.