Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 17th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: Indian Premier League 2015 Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi Date & Time: Apr 20, 08:00 PM LOCAL

Delhi Daredevils have finally managed to snap their losing streak that stretched back to last year by winning two games back-to-back and are a confident side leading into their fifth game of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders, but have another losing streak staring them. Delhi Daredevils have not won a game in their last eight matches played on their home ground, the Feroz Shah Kotla. JP Duminy and his team would be mindful of that.

Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, have had an indifferent start to their season after winning the title last year. They began with a handsome victory over Mumbai Indians, but have since endured a difficult time in the league, before registering a tense win over Kings XI Punjab in their last match. Shakib Al Hasan's absence from the side did expose a few chinks, and it will be interesting to see whether they go into the game against DD with the same squad that beat KXIP.

Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to chase. Both teams went in with unchanged sides.

Here are the captains comments:

Gambhir: 'That was power hitting at its best. The ability of Andre Russell can change the course of the game. We have dropped crucial catches would want to correct that. We are going to bowl first. Haven't seen a wicket like this. It looks like a different kind of wicket. The win in the last game was very important. We were not up to the mark with the kind of situation we were in. No changes to our side.'Duminy: 'Not a bad start at all. After two successive loses we wanted a big performance, so happy with the last two games. We are sure with the balance of the team. The wicket looks good and won't change much. We would have bowled first as well. Not sure with the wicket, quite different to a Delhi wicket.'

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils (Playing XI): Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Jean-Paul Duminy(c), Yuvraj Singh, Angelo Mathews, Kedar Jadhav(w), Manoj Tiwary, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Amit Mishra, Imran Tahir, Domnic Joseph.Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Robin Uthappa(w), Gautam Gambhir(c), Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav.

Both teams observe silence ahead of the game due to the demise of young Bengal cricketer Ankit Keshri. The Bengal Under-19 captain passed away after colliding with a player from his own team on the field earlier today. The players wear black armbands in his memory.

Umesh Yadav begins the proceedings with a pacy opening over on a wicket that has a healthy covering of grass, quite unlike Feroz Shah Kotla surfaces players are used to. Only three runs were conceded, two of which were wides, before Morne Morkel breaks through for KKR, getting rid of Mayank Agarwal who top-edged his first ball for Umesh to take a good catch at fine leg for 1. Only two more runs came off the rest of the second over as Umesh and Morkel enjoy a good start on their former home ground.

JP Duminy finds himself at the crease earlier than expected but gets off the blocks with a punch through the off side off Umesh. DD would be hoping for their captain to stay in for as long as possible against a tricky bowling attack.

Gambhir opts to continue with his strike bowlers for another two overs but Shreyas Iyer pounces on Morkel, first cutting him over point and then tucking him away through the on side for another boundary. Good over for the Daredevils and they are away.

A change in the bowling attack is imminent now.

Only three balls were needed for Sunil Narine to walk out and make an impact, and how. Shreyas Iyer took a single off the first ball, getting JP Duminy on strike and the Daredevils captain, eager to put the spinner away, blocks the first one - a carrom ball - but the next one goes for a sweep only to be bowled behind his legs. He didn't make contact with his bat, but the ball hits his arm and gets dragged onto the stumps. Second blow for the Daredevils that brings Manoj Tiwary to the crease, who gets off the mark with a sweep for four.

Double change for KKR as Andre Russell, also an ex-DD player, comes into the attack. Shreyas Iyer is looking increasingly confident at the crease since his half-century in the previous game, and hits Russell over mid-off for a boundary. A risky single brings an end to the Powerplay overs as DD end on 34 for 2. Not the ideal start they wanted but would be hoping for their two Indian players to build on from here.

Piyush Chawla hasn't had the best of starts to the IPL and conceded four wides off his first ball. Iyer and Tiwary knock the rest of the over about and get eight runs out of the seventh over.

Iyer has started taking charge of the innings and right after a highlights package from his previous innings is shown, he deposits Andre Russell over the wide long on boundary for a six. Tiwary flicks the last ball of Russell's over for a boundary and DD bring up their fifty.

Chawla is persisted with and strikes in the ninth over, getting of the dangerous looking Shreyas Iyer as the batsman goes for an almighty heave across the line and is bowled.

Iyer's patience has given way and the Daredevils have lost their third wicket before the halfway mark. They need at least one batsman to bat through the innings here.

Another setback for Delhi Daredevils just as they had begun building a partnership. After a good over for the team, Shreyas Iyer is cleaned up by Chawla for 31, bringing the big man, Yuvraj Singh to the crease.

More spin is introduced as Yusuf Pathan is brought into the attack. Manoj Tiwary is looking confident at the crease despite not getting a hit in the middle in the past couple of games. Tiwary reverse-paddles Pathan for a smart boundary. Yuvraj knocks the ball around for a couple of singles and DD are 69 for 3 at the half-way mark.

Not the best of starts for the Daredevils but with Yuvraj in and Angelo Mathews to come, they do have the firepower.

Morkel returns to the attack but Manoj Tiwary takes him for two boundaries in the over, first flat-batting him through cover before unleashing a ferocious pull shot. Between the boundaries was an awkward miscue that landed wide of point and there was a mix-up in the middle, but both batsmen made it safely back to the crease.

Narine is also brought back knowing Yuvraj's struggles against him previously, and sends down an over costing just three runs as Yuvraj plays him out safely.

shows how brave @KKRiders captain is

career. He is yet to bowl a no-ball!

- the right mix!

66 87

That's it. KKR don't wait for their full quota of overs to chase down a modest target of 147 - off 18.1 overs - doing it with six wickets in hand. Boundaries accelerate KKR's charge but lose Gambhir with four runs needed, who is bowled trying to cut Imran Tahir away.

KKR's victory means Delhi Daredevils continue to be win-less for the ninth game in a row on their home ground. The Daredevils, however, would be ruing the fact that none of their batsmen who got starts went on to post a half-century at least, which kept them to a total below 150, which was never going to be enough to challenge a team like KKR. DD were definitely short by at least 20 runs on a slow Kotla wicket and their bowlers were not consistent enough.

For KKR, though, victory was set up by their fast bowlers led by Umesh Yadav's 2 for 18 and Morne Morkel's 2 for 30. Even an off day for Sunil Narine with the ball wasn't enough for DD to score a competitive total, and KKR eventually got there with ease, set up by Gambhir's 49-ball 60 and Pathan's unbeaten 40 from just 26 balls.