Ahmadabad: Kolkata Knight Riders suffered another familiar batting collapse before late fireworks from Andre Russell lifted them to 154 for six in their IPL match against Delhi Capitals here Thursday.
Put in to bat, KKR were at a decent position at 69 for one in the 10th over but slumped to 82 for five in the 13th before Russell saved them with a 27-ball 45 not out.
Russell’s blistering innings had two boundaries and four sixes.
Struggling opener Shubman Gill top-scored with a 38-ball 43, and his knock was studded with three boundaries and one six, but he failed to convert his solid start into a big score.
For DC, Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav were impressive with two wickets.
KKR were 45 for one at the end of powerplay overs after Nitish Rana was stumped out for 15 in the fourth over bowled by Axar.
Gill was going strong as he took on Ishant Sharma and Axar by hitting a few boundaries but lost Rahul Tripathi to Marcus Stoinis in the 10th over.
KKR’s familiar batting slump came to the fore as captain Eoin Morgan and Sunil Narine both got out in the space of three balls without opening their accounts.
Lalit, who replaced an injured Amit Mishra in the DC playing XI, grabbed both the wickets as KKR slumped from 69 for 1 in the 10th over to 75 for 4 in the 11th over.
Morgan holed out to Steve Smith at long-off while Narine was castled by a quick off-break from Lalit, which disturbed his stumps.
Gill, who is yet to score a half-century in seven innings this season, went for a big shot off a slower ball from Avesh Khan, only to hole out to Smith in the 13th over.
Brief Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders: 154 for 6 in 20 in overs (Andrew Russell 45, Shubman Gill 43; Lalit Yadav 2/13, Axar Patel 2/32).
PTI