Kolkata Knight Riders held their nerve to earn a 14-run victory over Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday. (As It Happened | Full Coverage)
After Delhi made things nervy in the chase, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy's heroics with the ball ended their hopes of getting back to winning ways.
KKR made a strong start, recording their highest opening partnership of the season as Rahmanullah Gurbaz (26) and Narine reached 48 before the former was caught out by Mitchell Starc's (3-43) yorker.
Narine (27) was trapped lbw, with Ajinkya Rahane (26) suffering the same fate just four balls later. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44) and Rinku Singh (36) did put together a 61-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but a late collapse prevented KKR from setting a massive target.
At 203-6, Rovman Powell (5), Anukul Roy (0) - both taken by Starc - and Andre Russell (17) were dismissed one after the other in the final over, causing them to finish their innings at 204-9.
Delhi started the chase with a four from Abishek Porel on the first ball, but he was caught on the next by Russell as they were dealt an early blow.
Karun Nair (15) did not see out the powerplay either as he was trapped lbw by Vaibhav Arora, with KL Rahul (7) then being needlessly run out while attempting to go for a single.
Faf du Plessis (62) and Axar Patel (43), who suffered a blow to the hand while fielding, reignited their hopes of a win, but Narine (3-29) snuffed them both out.
Delhi's impact player, Ashutosh Sharma, only managed seven before his 18th-over dismissal at the hands of Chakravarthy (2-39), with Starc following quickly for a duck.
With their target of 205 already out of reach, Vipraj Nigam (38) was dismissed on the penultimate ball, leaving Delhi at 190-9 as they suffered a second consecutive loss.
Data Debrief: Narine shows all-round game
Delhi showed signs of a threat in the field and with the bat, but ultimately did not have enough to get past the reigning champions.
KKR may not have had an opening partnership of 50 yet this season, but Narine contributed to their best start yet. He also hit a first-ball six for the sixth time in the IPL, more than anyone else.
After the changeover, Axar hit Narine for three sixes despite his injury, with only one player ever hitting more against him in an IPL match: Rahul (four) in 2018.
But Narine roared back by taking Axar and Tristan Stubbs in the same over, helping to propel KKR to their first win in three and move them onto nine points.
