IPL 2018: 4 interesting moves that had a deep impact on the result of DD vs KKR clash

There is a lot at stake for teams in an IPL match as every result affects their chances of going forward in the tournament. So, in such high-octane matches, the captains have to be at their shrewd best as a lot rides on the moves that they plan and execute on the field. Sometimes, skippers throw in unanticipated moves to take the opposition off guard and gain some initiative in the contest.

The recently concluded clash between Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had some really interesting moves, which the cricketing fraternity didn’t really anticipate. Delhi, riding on the success of its skipper’s inventive moves, went on to register a 55-run win after posting a mammoth 219-run total on the board. Here are four interesting tactics from the game that had their impact on the result.

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#1 Daredevils drop Gambhir

Gambhir's homecoming to Delhi has been a bitter journey so far

From the time Gautam Gambhir announced his decision to step down from the responsibilities of the captaincy of Delhi Daredevils (DD), speculations were ripe that Gambhir might well be dropped from the side to lend DD a more balanced look. But with the burden of captaincy gone, DD were expected to give Gambhir a nice little run to try and see if he could contribute to the team as a free-flowing player.

The new DD skipper, Shreya Iyer announced the reverse thinking of the Delhi set-up as Gambhir made way for Vijay Shankar and Daniel Christian was dropped to accommodate Colin Munro in the starting XI. Munro partnered an 18-year-old, Prithvi Shaw to open the innings for Delhi.

#2 Karthik opening the bowling with two leg-spinners

Karthik missed the trick by introducing two leggies upfront against Colin Munro and Prithvi Shaw

KKR skipper, Dinesh Karthik surprised the cricketing fraternity with his decision to open the bowling with two leg-spinners, Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav. The idea was to take the pace off the ball while taking the ball away from the batsmen to entice them to hit against the turn with the lack of pace on the ball.

Prithvi Shaw adopted a cautious approach upfront as he gave due respect to Chawla's guiles, which resulted in only three runs off the first over. Kuldeep came on to bowl the second over and was smacked for a six by Munro to start off the Delhi charge. Chawla was thrashed for four boundaries in his second over (third of the innings) with Shaw and Munro sharing two each. The move to bring leggies upfront didn’t pay off as Delhi raced to 31 without loss after three overs.

#3 Iyer brings Maxwell to bowl with the new ball

Maxwell contributed 27 runs with the bat besides scalping Chris Lynn for just 5 runs

It looks like Shreyas Iyer took a cue from the opposition skipper, Dinesh Karthik as he introduced Glenn Maxwell to bowl to Chris Lynn in the second over of Kolkata's innings. The idea was to deny Lynn the pace on the ball to work with for his expansive shots. Unlike Karthik's decision, this paid off handsomely for Iyer as Lynn was castled by Maxwell on the fifth ball of the second over to strengthen Delhi's hopes of halting their losing streak of three matches.

The lack of bounce which accounted for an established Prithvi Shaw (62 off 44 balls) earlier in the DD innings was the culprit again as the ball kissed the inside edge of Lynn's bat and went on to disturb the furniture behind him. This was Lynn’s fourth dismissal against a spinner this season.

#4 Mishra leads to the downfall of Kolkata

Amit Mishra bowled a brilliant sixteenth over to turn the tide in his team's favor.

Though Kolkata were reduced to 77 for 5 wickets as early as tenth over of the innings in their big chase of 220 runs, they were in the game till the sixteenth over which was bowled by Amit Mishra. Mishra had a well thought-out plan of turning the ball away from well outside the off-stump. That way André Russell would have to fetch the ball from off to hit it in his comfort zone over mid-wicket and long on and this ploy could have tricked him into mistiming his shot, which is what happened and eventually brought about his downfall handing Delhi their much-awaited victory.

Shubhman Gill managed a leg-bye on the first ball to give the strike to Russell who was completely squared up by Mishra on the next ball, which spun past his poking bat's outside edge. Russell managed to hit one to backward point on the next ball but a slight hesitation in running from Gill resulted in him getting run-out at the striker’s end. Shivam Mavi was not able to comprehend Mishra’s variations and was finally castled on the last ball of the 16th over that yielded just a solitary run at the cost of two wickets for KKR.