IPL 2021: Twitter Erupts As Delhi Capitals Hammer Kolkata Knight Riders By 8 Wickets Courtesy A Prithvi Shaw Onslaught

IPL 2021: Twitter Erupts As Delhi Capitals Hammer Kolkata Knight Riders By 8 Wickets Courtesy A Prithvi Shaw Onslaught

Prithvi Shaw, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders
Prithvi Shaw blazed away with a whirlwind 41-ball 82 [Image-IPLT20]

A whirlwind 41-ball 82 by the imperious Prithvi Shaw and a rollicking 131-run opening stand has helped Delhi Capitals swat aside Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in Ahmedabad.

Chasing 155, Delhi Capitals got off to a rollicking start as Prithvi Shaw smashed Shivam Mavi for six consecutive boundaries in the first over.

It was a combination of pure timing and nonchalance from the pocket-size dynamo as he flayed his former U-19 teammate all around the ground.

Shaw started off by nonchalantly hitting Mavi over his head before dishing out an imperious flick towards midwicket. Mavi offered width on the next delivery and Shaw thumped him past the cover region.

Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders
Prithvi Shaw Smashes 25 Runs Off The First Over; Carts Shivam Mavi For Six Consecutive Fours

Mavi had lost it by then as he dished out a slower delivery and Prithvi Shaw dished out a crunching cover-drive. He bowled another slower one outside off-stump and Prithvi guided it past backward point for his 5th consecutive boundary. And, just to rub further salt to Mavi’s wounds, Shaw then proceeded to loft him over extra cover to make it fours six in a row.

Shaw became just the second batter after Ajinkya Rahane to smash six fours in a row.

And, Delhi Capitals just never looked back after that as Shaw brought up the 50-run-stand in just 3.4 overs with another audacious six over the cover region off Sunil Narine.

IPL 2021: Twitter Erupts As Delhi Capitals Hammer Kolkata Knight Riders By 8 Wickets Courtesy A Prithvi Shaw Onslaught
Prithvi Shaw. (Credits: Twitter)

Shaw blazed away to a 16-ball 48 as Delhi Capitals completed the powerplay at 0/67.

The young opener eventually got his 50 (in just 18 balls) with a flick to deep square-leg on the first ball of the 8th over to become the 2nd joint-fastest alongside Rishabh Pant for the Delhi Capitals.

And, the youngster celebrated that with an audacious loft on the up over towards long-off for another four as Delhi Capitals raced to 0/81 after 8.

IPL 2021: Twitter Erupts As Delhi Capitals Hammer Kolkata Knight Riders By 8 Wickets Courtesy A Prithvi Shaw Onslaught
Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan [Image-IPLT20]
With Shaw going great guns, Shikhar Dhawan decided to play second fiddle as he continuously rotated the strike to let that his young opener continues with the onslaught.

And, Shaw did continue with his onslaught. The duo racked up the 100-run-stand in just the 10th over and with the required rate falling below 5, it was about when and not if Delhi Capitals will win the encounter. The 132-run-opening stand finally came to an end when Dhawan got trapped plumb in front after missing the flick against Pat Cummins.

Prithvi Shaw’s onslaught too came to an end as he finally mistimed an attempted lofted drive while Pant too fell to Cummins [3-24] for an 8-ball 16 but by then the damage had already been done as Marcus Stoinis guided Delhi Capitals to a 7-wicket win in the 17th over.

 

Late blitz by Andre Russell guided lackluster Kolkata Knight Riders to 154 against Delhi Capitals

Batting first, Kolkata Knight Riders once again got off to a sedate start as the opening duo of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana went at run-a-ball in the first few overs.

Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders
Axar Patel dismissed Nitish Rana [Image-IPLT20]
Rana looked like breaking the shackles when he reverse-swept Axar Patel in the 4th over but the left-arm orthodox had the last laugh as Rana danced down the track and ended up getting stumped.

Shubman Gill stroked a couple of boundaries off Ishant Sharma in the 6th over as Kolkata Knight Riders ended the powerplay at 1/45.

The duo of Gill and Tripathi stitched 44 runs in the next 5.5 overs before Kolkata Knight Riders endured another horrific collapse as they went from 1/69 to 4/75 within a space of seven balls.

Rahul Tripathi once again flattered to deceive as he holed out against Marcus Stoinis for a 17-ball 19.

Lalit Yadav then proceeded to get in the act as he dismissed Eoin Morgan (0), who holed out in an attempt to chip the off-break over long-off.

Eoin Morgan, Kolkata Knight Riders
Lalit Yadav dismissed both Morgan and Narine [Image-IPLT20]
KKR once again promoted Sunil Narine ahead of Dre Russ and Dinesh Karthik and the move once again backfired as the off-spinner was undone by a brilliant off-break by Lalit Yadav for a golden duck.

With Andre Russell at the crease, Rishabh Pant brought back Kagiso Rabada in the attack and the Proteas pacer kept the birthday boy in check as Russell managed just 7 runs in his first 14 balls.

With the overs running away and run-rate hovering around 6, Shubman Gill (43 off 38 balls) holed out on a slower delivery by Avesh Khan to leave Kolkata Knight Riders reeling at 5/82 in 13 overs.

Andre Russell
Andre Russell (Image Credit: Twitter)

Dinesh Karthik smoked a six and a four to break some shackles but Axar Patel dealt another blow on the Kolkata Knight Riders as he trapped him plumb in front with a fast slider. KKR- 6/109 after 16.2 overs.

Russell, however, exploded in the end as he smashed Rabada for a couple of sixes and a four.

He (45 off 27 balls) then backed it up with another six on the last ball of the final over bowled by Avesh Patel as Kolkata Knight Riders scored 42 runs off the last 18 balls to end up with 6/154.

 

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

 

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Yash Mittal

Just a student of this beautiful game called cricket. Writer. Storyteller.

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