Five defeats to start the 2023 season and Delhi finally managed to open their account on Thursday night, with a 4 wicket win over Kolkata in New Delhi. The manner in which the match was won though would leave many refusing to address any 'resurgence' questions regarding the franchise.
Delhi started the match very strong, taking control in the second over itself, sending back Litton Das on 4. Venkatesh Iyer, centurion from the last game, got out on a duck to Anrich Nortje while Jason Roy, making his debut, held fort at the other end even as wickets fell with Nitish out on 4, Mandeep on 12, Rinku Singh on 6. Roy made 43 before he too feel and Kolkata were 94/8 in 15 overs. Andre Russell though added some late runs, including three sixes in the final over off Mukesh Kumar, before Kolkata were bowled out for 127.
The chase is where Delhi seemed to dip into the same form that had lost them the last five games as David Warner once again top-scored with a half century. Prithvi Shaw’s struggles continued as he got out on 13 but even then, the home team looked comfortable at 73/3 in 10 overs. But then, they did manage to make a nail-biter out of this one as well and after 15 overs, the team needed 24 before Manish Pandey also got out.
In the end, the equation was down to 8 needed from 8 and Axar Patel hang around till the end to hit the winning runs and help Delhi win the game with 4 balls to spare.
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