Manish Pandey was the hero for Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday as his unbeaten half century led his side to a thrilling victory over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.
Set 169 to win following a top-order collective by the Delhi batsmen, Kolkata’s reply got off to a shaky start when they were reduced to 21-3 inside the first three overs.
Enter Pandey and Yusuf Pathan who put on 110 runs for the fourth wicket to lay the foundations for a third successive Kolkata victory.
Once Pathan’s 39-ball 59 came to an end, after he was caught and bowled by Chris Morris, Kolkata still needed 38 runs from 31 deliveries.
The swift dismissals of Suryakumar Yadav (7) and Chris Woakes (3) gave Delhi a fighting chance, with Kolkata needing nine runs from the final four balls.
However, Pandey stood firm, following a crunching six with a game-winning double on the penultimate delivery to steer Kolkata home.
Having won the toss and opting to bat, Delhi’s top-order shared the runs without any one player reaching the half-century mark.
Sanju Samson (39) and Sam Billings (21) put on a 53-run partnership for the opening wicket, before Karun Niar (21), Shreyas Iyer (26) and Rishabh Pant (38) all contributed to the Delhi innings.
Yet the individual brilliance of Pandey and Yadav prevailed to send Kolkata back to the top of the IPL table, level on points with Mumbai Indians.
* The National staff
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