Dravid advises Sudharsan for England

Delhi Capitals (DC) hosted Jammu & Kashmir Capitals (J&K) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on the back of a stunning last-ball win over Rajasthan Royals just two days earlier. Going into the match, DC came off a thrilling win, riding on Shikhar Dhawan’s aggressive 53-ball 67.

Resilience Returns for Capitals

The Jaitley Stadium play, however, presented different challenges. Earlier, Ravi Shastri’s men put up a fight against J&K on the board, thanks largely to Rahul King’s composed 67-ball 54 and timely contributions from Marcus Stoinis (39 not out).

Where DC lacked in the batting’s middle order, they found solid support with the ball. Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up crucial early wickets, establishing control.

J&K Show Fight

The pitch conditions in Delhi demanded a fighting approach from the Kings. With heavy lifting achieved at the end, the focus turned to defense on this challenging track.

Prabh Singh emerged as the standout performer for J&K, finishing with excellent figures of 3/22 from his four overs. This economical and wicket-taking spell put the onus on DC’s bowlers.

Closing the Nails

The final partnership between Kings and Anekieta was particularly cause for concern for DC’s bowlers, pushing the required run-rate significantly higher.

However, destiny was not on the Kings’ side. DC’s final bowler, Anrich Nortje, the master of death bowling, delivered when it mattered most. The part-timer yorker did for Anekieta, silencing the home crowd, and then dramatically conceded just five runs in the final two balls to claim the wicket of Kings. This was followed by Jitex Singh hitting the winning boundary.

Across town in Navi Mumbai, the Feroz Shah Kotla encounter was swapped from the purple cap wearer to the specialist finisher as Rishabh Pant achieved his third hat-trick in the tournament, finishing with stunning figures of 3/16 off his four overs.

The final session saw Mumbai Indians (MI) needing six to win, but it was fired down by a fired-up Hardik Pandya, who conceded only two runs from his four deliveries, ensuring another crucial win for his side.

On a positive note, Virat Kohli (64 runs at present) and KL Rahul (22 not out from his 42 balls) ensure Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are in strong contention. The battle-hardened Kings XI Punjab, having yet again fought back, will look to leverage this momentum into the upcoming Biolet Energy Coast to Coast finale.