Kolkata Knight Riders took their second win of the 2018 Indian Premier League season in style after beating Delhi Daredevils by 71 runs on Monday to move up to second in the standings.
Sunil Narine was the star of the show and split six wickets with Kuldeep Yadav to prevent the Daredevils' late order from developing any kind of comeback attempt, per the official Knight Riders Twitter account:
It was an encouraging response from Narine after he opened for Kolkata and was caught out for one, while a commanding 59 from Nitish Rana helped on by Andre Russell, Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn built a solid total.
Russell's 41 keeps him in the upper echelon of batsmen competing for the Orange Cap, sitting second to Rajasthan Royals star Sanju Samson, 25 runs off his leading sum of 178 and having now played a match more.
Read on for a roundup of the updated top run-scorers and wicket-takers in the IPL this season, along with a look at how Monday's result affects those races for the orange and purple caps.
Orange Cap Leaders (Runs)
1. Sanju Samson, Rajasthan Royals (178)
2. Andre Russell, Kolkata Knight Riders (153)
3. Rishabh Pant, Delhi Daredevils (138
4. Lokesh Rahul, Kings XI Punjab (135
5. Shikhar Dhawan, Sunrisers Hyderabad, (130)
Purple Cap Leaders (Wickets)
1. Sunil Narine, Kolkata Knight Riders (7)
2. Mayank Markande, Mumbai Indians (7)
3. Chris Woakes, Royal Challengers Bangalore (7)
4. Rahul Tewatia, Delhi Daredevils (6)
5. Trent Boult, Delhi Daredevils (6)
All statistics courtesy of the official IPL T20 website.
Kolkata Knight Riders (200/9) beat Delhi Daredevils (129) by 71 runs
All it took was three overs for Narine to seal his return from zero to hero at Eden Gardens, where Vijay Shankar, Chris Morris and Mohammed Shami fell to the Trinidadian in quick succession in an abruptly ended chase.
Narine has clout in the IPL having played for Kolkata since 2012, and cricket journalist Bharath Seervi noted a landmark moment for the overseas star:
Three outs was enough to pull Narine level as the leading wicket-taker this season, joint with Mayank Markande of the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore star Chris Woakes on seven apiece.
His new bowling average of 11.71 is also now the best in the league, per IPLT20.com, with team-mate Yadav not far away on five wickets after taking out Rishabh Pant and Glenn Maxwell for 43 and 47, respectively.
Russell (6) was the only player on the day to best Maxwell's total of four sixes, and statistician Sampath Bandarupalli highlighted an odd case of deja vu in his dismissal:
Delhi's late order was poor after that—or Narine was just that good—and the last six batsmen to enter play amassed only 18 runs between them.
Rana's 59 takes him to 127 runs and just outside the top five run-scorers this season, but Russell remains locked in the hunt for a place at the top after he was bowled out for 41 by Trent Boult.
Russell managed that tally off only 12 balls, while Dinesh Karthik notched just 19 runs off 10, the latest in a string of underwhelming middle-overs performances, per ESPNCricinfo:
The Daredevils got their campaign up and running with a first win of the season against Mumbai Indians on Saturday, but the Knight Riders were imperious in an early four-pointer between the two.
Delhi's swift fall was Narine's gain as he now shares a lead in pursuit of the Purple Cap, while leading run-scorers Samson (178) and Russell (153) are on a collision course ahead of Kolkata's trip to Jaipur on Wednesday.
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