IPL 2018, KKR v DD: Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana script Kolkata's 71-run win vs Delhi

Sunil Narine grabbed his 100th wicket and became the third bowler to achieve the milestone playing for one team as Kolkata Knight Riders crushed Delhi Daredevils by 71 runs at the Eden Gardens on Monday.

Kolkata bowlers ruined Gautam Gambhir's return to the city as the opposition team captain as KKR bowled out the Daredevils for 129 inside 15 overs after posting a mammoth total of 200 for 9 after being put into bat.

Spinners Narine and Kuldeep Yadav bagged three wickets each while Tom Curran, Piyush Chawla, Andre Russell and Shivam Mavi took one wicket apiece for the home side.

Glenn Maxwell and Rishabh Pant scored 47 and 43 respectively for Delhi but the rest of the batsmen couldn't even reach double figures and succumbed to their 7th successive defeat in Kolkata.

The @KKRiders beat #DD by 71 runs to register their second win of the season so far.#KKRvDD #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/r0JeW0QN19

IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 16, 2018

"Wins keep you happy. Feels good. Touch wood, this is the kind of the day, where you make a move and it works. Wrist spinners are picked for a certain purpose. They are standing up. It's good to see. It's going well. I am getting used to. Try to separate batting from captaincy," KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Earlier, Nitish Rana cracked a fine half century while Andre Russell blasted a 12-ball 44 to propel the Knight Riders (KKR) to 200/9 in 20 overs.

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Rana (59) played a gem of an innings, selecting his shots with aplomb, as he hit five fours and four sixes to set up KKR's onslaught and allow Russell, who was dropped on 7 by Jason Roy, to go for the big shots from the word go. Rana took 35 balls for his 59.

Russell hit six sixes in a three-over period where the hosts bludgeoned 54 runs before leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia (3/18) put a lid on the proceedings by taking three wickets in the last overs and conceding just one run.

Rana and Russell stitched together a 61-run partnership in just 22 balls for the fifth wicket.

For Delhi, Rahul Tewatia starred with the ball picking up 3 wickets while Trent Boult and Chris Morris got two each.

"We have to give it to KKR, they played really well. One stage we thought they couldn't get 170-175 but then getting to 200 was a good effort by them. We knew it was going to be a stiff chase as they have three quality spinners.

"I thought we tried our level best but we couldn't execute the plans well. Someone like Russell when he starts to take on the bowlers it's difficult to contain him. We even tried bowling from round the wicket. We had different plans but it was difficult to execute the plans. Lot of balls we bowled into his radar.

"It's important for us to win the games at home, there are about 5 of them we're playing at home. The next game is important for us if we can take a win. If we get a win in Bangalore the confidence will be better. We still have 10 games left and a lot of hard work to do," Gambhir said after the match.

Narine is now the purple cap holder with 7 wickets. He is also the third bowler in IPL history to clinch 100 wickets for a single team.

The spin magician strikes twice in one over to surpass the 100-wicket mark in #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/OTN76IhXcK

IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 16, 2018

KKR are now second in the points table and will next face Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on April 18. The Daredevils on the other hand, are languishing in seventh position with one win in 4 games and will travel to Bengaluru to face Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 21.

(With IANS inputs)