Mumbai, April 18:
Kolkata Knight Riders roared to a thrilling four-wicket victory over hosts Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Monday. (HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD)
One of the star performers for the visiting Kolkata Knight Riders team was Manish Pandey, who struck his second, unbeaten half-century of the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Pandey’s 49-ball 69 not out, that included four fours and three sixes, helped bring his personal tally to 221 runs in IPL 2017, and put him second in line for the orange cap behind Sunrisers Hyderabad’s David Warner, who has 235 runs.
Although the defeat would have been hard to digest for the Delhi Daredevils, they would have positives to take back, particularly with the fielding of Sanju Samson.
The 22-year-old produced a moment of brilliance along the boundary when he prevented a six with an athletic dive to keep the Delhi Daredevils in the game.
As the Kolkata Knight Riders chased the DD’s 168-run target, Manish Pandey smashed a Chris Morris delivery in the second ball of the 19th over high towards the boundary line.
A six might have been on the cards until Sanju Samson — usually a wicketkeeper — produced an athletic dive across the line to grab the ball and swing it under him before crashing to ground, all in one swift motion.
The fans in the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium rose to their feet to applaud the effort, as did his support staff.
Going into the penultimate over, Kolkata Knight Riders had needed 16 runs to win the match meaning Samson’s effort definitely kept Delhi Daredevils in the game.
However, the hosts could not see out the game for a result as Manish Pandey’s heroics won the match for KKR.
Needing eight runs in the final three deliveries, Pandey struck leg-spinner Amit Mishra for a six and ran two to win the match for Kolkata Knight Riders with a ball to spare.
