Russell cameo help KKR beat SRH

Mumbai: Delhi Capitals (DC) opened their IPL 2019 campaign with a 37-run win against three-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai last evening.

Chasing a mammoth 214 runs for victory, the home side were off to a steady start as captain Rohit Sharma and left-hander Quinton de Kock added 33 runs for the first wicket.

Rohit, playing in his 300th T20 match was dismissed by Ishant Sharma on 14. Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed cheaply on 2, courtesy a fine run-out effected by Delhi Capitals’ captain Shreyas Iyer. Sooner, MI lost De Kock on 27 off 16 balls (4 fours, 1 six). At 45/3, Yuvraj Singh was joined by Kieron Pollard as the duo added 50 runs for the fourth wicket. Pollard was dismissed on 21 off 13 balls (2 fours, 1 six).

MI received a big blow the very next over as Hardik Pandya was caught and bowled off the first ball by Axar Patel, reducing MI to 95/5 in 11.2 overs.

Krunal Pandya’s cameo 32 off 15 (5 fours, 1 six) gave MI some chance but following his dismissal, it was very difficult for lone warrior Yuvraj Singh to chase down the huge total. Yuvraj’s 53 from 35 balls (5 fours, 3 sixes) in his debut match for Mumbai Indians weren’t enough as the home side lost by 37 runs. Earlier, riding on Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 78 off just 27 balls at an astronomical strike rate of 288.89, Delhi Capitals posted 213/6 on board.

KKR beat SRH

In the Match-2 of IPL 2019, Andre Russell smashed an explosive 49 to spoil David Warner’s scintillating IPL comeback as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pulled off a dramatic six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at The Eden                               Gardens yesterday.

Needing 53 runs from last three overs, the powerful Jamaican changed the course of the match with his big-hitting against Siddharth Kaul, creaming off 19 runs from that over. He retained the strike by taking a smart single and continued his assault on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who too bled 19 runs in the penultimate over as KKR sealed the 182-run chase with two balls to spare.

Russell hammered four sixes and an equal number of boundaries in run sequence that read 6-6-1-4-1-4-6-4-0-6-1.

Youngster Shubman Gill (18 not out) completed the formalities with two sixes off Shakib-Al-Hasan.