New Delhi, April 30 (H.S.): Kolkata Knight Riders showcased the strength of their spin once again, defeating Delhi Capitals by 14 runs. In the 48th match of IPL 2025, the heroes of Kolkata’s victory were Sunil Narine (3/29) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/39), who shattered the backbone of Delhi’s batting during the middle overs.

Batting first after losing the toss, Kolkata’s team scored 204 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (26) and Sunil Narine (27) provided a quick start. Following them, Ajinkya Rahane (26), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 runs, 32 balls), and Rinku Singh (36) contributed significantly. In the end, Andre Russell played a quick innings of 17 runs, helping the team cross the 200-run mark.

For Delhi, Mitchell Starc delivered an impressive bowling performance, taking 3 wickets, while Axar Patel and Vipraj Nigam claimed 2 wickets each.

Chasing the target, Delhi had a terrible start. The first wicket fell at just 4 runs, and wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals. Faf du Plessis (62 runs, 45 balls) did fight back, but he didn’t receive adequate support from other batsmen. Axar Patel (43 runs) and finally Vipraj Nigam (38 runs, 19 balls) sparked some hope, but Delhi’s innings collapsed at 190 runs in 49.2 overs in front of Kolkata’s spin attack.

For Kolkata, Sunil Narine took three wickets and Varun Chakravarthy took two. Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, and Andre Russell each claimed one wicket.

With this victory, Kolkata has strengthened its position in the points table, while Delhi’s playoff hopes have taken a hit.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar