|| India Correspondent ||

Captain Shreyas Iyer smashed an unbeaten 88 and stitched a 73-run stand with Prithvi Shaw (66) to help Delhi Capitals (DC) register a comfortable 18 runs win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2020 on Saturday.

Put in to bat, Delhi openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan got off a blitzy start where they added 56 runs inside the powerplay where Shaw took the charge. He smashed fours off Pat Cummins in the very first over.

He smashed a four and a six in the next over of Cummins while Dhawan took on Sunil Narine for two successive sixes in the fifth over. However, Varun Chakravarthy drew the first blood. Dhawan fell for a 16-ball 26. However, the captain Shreyas Iyer steadied the ship with Shaw where they soon changed the gear and opened their arms.

The duo laid the solid foundation of another 73 runs where the young DC opener allowed his captain to settle down before Iyer started smashing all over the park to accelerate the innings. They put up 89 runs after 10 overs.

While Shaw brought up his half-century with a maximum off his U-19 India teammate Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Iyer smacked him out of the ground in the same over for another six. While their onslaught lifted them to 121 after 12 overs, Shaw fell for 66 off 41 with 4 fours and as many sixes but Nagarkoti had the last laugh.

After his dismissal, Rishabh Pant joined his captain and he didn’t take much time to settle down as he smashed three boundaries off Shivam Mavi before Iyer’s three big-hit off Cummins in the 17th over took them to 186. While Iyer scored 88*, Pant’s quickfire 17-ball 38 helped Delhi posted a huge total of 228 in their allotted 20 overs.

While chasing, the Kolkata Knight Riders lost their opener, Sunil Narine, very cheaply but recovered to some extent by the steady partnership of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana. The duo added 64 runs where Rana took the charge.

Shubman Gill, who had sensational innings so far in the tournament, was dismissed in the ninth over for 28. He went for a slog sweep but could only manage the top-edge and Pant did the rest. Soon after, their star all-rounder Andre Russell fell cheaply within 10 overs.

However, he was followed in the hut by Rana who tried his best to keep the side in the game with 58 off 35 which also included 4 boundaries and as many sixes. And, once again Dinesh Karthik failed to contribute with the bat.