Shreyas Iyer Makes Captaincy Debut in Style as DD Register Thumping Victory Over KKR

Shreyas Iyer made his IPL captaincy debut in sensational style as he scored unbeaten 93 off just 40 deliveries and helped Delhi Daredevils register a comprehensive 55-run victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders in Feroz Shah Kotla on Friday.

Put into bat, Delhi started well with new opening pair of Colin Munro and Prithvi Shaw who put up 59 runs for the first wicket. The pair started attacking the KKR spinners – who have been a key asset in the previous games. Narine and Kuldeep were both taken for runs, but they didn’t help themselves with some ordinary bowling. The two conceded a total of 57 runs in the 5 overs between them. Prithvi Shaw looked class apart as his big bat-lift and composure at the crease made him attractive to watch.

Iyer and Shaw put up 68-runs for the second wicket. Shaw also became the joint youngest half-century scorer in the IPL when he reached the landmark off just 38-balls in the 11th over.

He was ultimately dismissed for 62 off 44 balls, leaving to a standing ovation. Rishabh Pant departed for a first ball duck but then Iyer and Maxwell made merry against a rather ordinary KKR attack.

Maxwell wasn’t timing the ball as well as he would have liked but he still managed to support the skipper as the two put on 73 runs for the fourth wicket. Maxwell making 27 off 18 balls.

Iyer was in a class of his own though as he hit 10 maximums and just 3 boundaries. 4 of those maximums came in the last over as Iyer hit youngster Shivam Mavi for 29 runs to help Delhi post 219/4. None of the bowlers had respectable figures with Piyush Chawla’s 1/33 being the best figure.

For KKR to come back into the game, it required a special effort and a good start but that never happened for them.

Maxwell accounted for Chris Lynn in just the second over for just 5. Trent Boult then struck a double blow, removing Robin Uthappa and Sunil Narine in quick succession. Narine was looking good, striking the ball cleanly, he hit 26 off just 9 balls.

None of the KKR top-order batsmen made any big contribution and they were reduced to 77/5. Shubhman Gill and Andre Russell then put on 64-runs for the sixth wicket, with the big hitting West Indian giving some sort of hope to KKR fans.

However, it was not to be their day as KKR ended at 164/9 and Delhi registered their biggest win against Kolkata in IPL history.

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