Spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who spent seven years with the Kolkata Knight Riders, returned to haunt the Shreyas Iyer-led side as his four-wicket haul helped Delhi Capitals register a dominant 44-run win over the IPL 2022 table-toppers at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who spent seven years with the Kolkata Knight Riders, returned to haunt the Shreyas Iyer-led side as his four-wicket haul helped Delhi Capitals register a dominant 44-run win over the IPL 2022 table-toppers at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Earlier today, Delhi got off to an excellent start after having been put to bat by KKR, with both openers Prithvi Shaw (51) and David Warner (61) smashing half-centuries to set the stage for a huge total. Once Shaw was dismissed, captain Rishabh Pant kept up the scoring rate and took the side to 148 in the 13th over.
Kolkata, however, made a bit of a comeback after picking up four wickets for 18 runs, including the dangerous Warner. However, an explosive 49-run partnership off 20 balls betweenAxar Patel and Shardul Thakur pushed Delhi to a formidable 215 off their 20 overs.
In response, KKR lost both their openers within the power play, but the ship was steadied by captain Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana. With plenty of explosive hitters in their line-up, including Andre Russell, Kolkata was still in with a chance while the partnership was in place.
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However, Nitish Rana falling to part-timer Lalit Yadav opened the floodgates, and then the innings was taken over by former KKR bowler Kuldeep Yadav. The spinner dismissed the set Shreyas Iyer, previous game's hero Pat Cummins and the dangerous Sunil Narine. Yadav, who clinched his 50th IPL wicket in this game, was ably supported by the returning Khalil Ahmed, who ended up with 3 for 25.
Following this splendid show with the ball, Delhi Capital fans, former players and cricket pundits lauded Kuldeep Yadav's efforts. Here's a look at the reactions:
. to KKR this game: pic.twitter.com/CqfPIhAsF0
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14)Kuldeep Yadav smashing the team which ruined 2 years of his career. Poetic JUSTICE. pic.twitter.com/rAqkIMlAeq
— a. (@LetsGoGavi)Warra redemption by Kuldeep Yadav pic.twitter.com/pGA58z6GCA
— Shivani (@meme_ki_diwani)Kuldeep Yadav picked a 4 wickets haul against his former IPL franchise.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra)Kuldeep Yadav was a liability for Kolkata since 2019. And now!
Confidence is/was the key
Kuldeep Yadav Game changer what a spell.. 💥💥💥💥 4 wickets 👏
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh)Shreyas Iyer ka to pata nahi but Kuldeep Yadav definitely took this contest personally against 😱🔥 4 wickets 👊⭐️
— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta)Apart from those talented first timers in this ipl, the story for me is Kuldeep Yadav’s return. He is really good with his pace and spin variations.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)Kuldeep Yadav taking revenge from his old team KKR with his superb bowling 🔥.. show me better revenge than this !! pic.twitter.com/35EWogZGTu
— Paapsee Tannu 🇮🇳 (@iamparodyyy)Kuldeep Yadav bowling with control and picking up wickets is big boost for Delhi Capitals as also good news for India.
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)The redemption of Kuldeep Yadav in IPL.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns)Kuldeep Yadav! Well that’s a performance. 👏🏼 Carnage.
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB)Despite losing, the Shreyas Iyer-led side remains on the top of the table but has played more games than anyone else. KKR next play Hyderabad on Friday, while Delhi will look to continue their newfound winning form against Royal Challengers on Saturday.