Finn Allen's 47-Ball Blitz Sinks DC as KKR Cruise to 8-Wicket Win

Chasing a modest target of 143, KKR's Finn Allen's brilliant unbeaten century, hitting 10 sixes and five boundaries, along with help from Cameron Green (33* off 27 balls), guided the team home with eight wickets and 34 balls remaining.

Openers Ajinkya Rahane (13) and Allen gave the team a quick start as they reached 29/1 in 2.5 overs, but the visitors lost Rahane to a runout by Mitchell Starc on the last ball of the third over.

Captain Axar Patel removed Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the very next over to reduce KKR to 32/2 in 4 overs. However, that was all the DC bowlers managed as what followed was a proper onslaught by Allen.

Once Finn Allen found his rhythm, he played with proper aggression. He targeted the spin of Vipraj Nigam and the pace of the DC attack with equal disdain. He reached his fifty off 32 balls with a six off Mitchell Starc's bowling in the 11th over. After 11 overs, KKR were 86/2.

Allen slammed three back-to-back sixes to Nigam in the 12th over and then smashed two in the very next over, bowled by Kuldeep Yadav, to enter the 90s.

With just three runs needed for a win, Cameron Green took a single to let Allen take the strike. Allen, on 94*, slammed a massive six to reach his maiden IPL hundred off 47 balls and also took KKR to an eight-wicket win.

Coming to DC's bowling, Axar Patel (1/27 in 4 overs) and Lungi Ngidi (0/7 in 2 overs) were the only ones who shone.

The win marked KKR's fourth consecutive victory in this season of the IPL. They now sit seventh on the points table with four wins in 10 matches.

Earlier, after KKR put DC to bat first, openers KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka started well, collecting runs freely against spinners Anukul Roy and Sunil Narine. The duo was going at almost 10 runs per over. In the fifth over, KL tried to dominate pacer Kartik Tyagi with a couple of fours, but an attempt at going inside-out over covers went straight into the hands of Cameron Green, removing him for a 14-ball 23. DC was 49/1 in five overs.

DC reached the 50-run mark in 5.1 overs.

At the end of the powerplay, DC was 55/1, with Nitish Rana (1*) and Nissanka (31*) unbeaten.

Nissanka continued to bat in a free-flow manner against spin, even hitting Green for a six and a four. But the Aussie all-rounder pushed DC back by removing Nitish for a 10-ball eight. DC was 74/2 in eight overs.

Spin started to dominate DC, as Narine removed Sameer Rizvi for seven-ball three, reducing DC to 80/3 in 10 overs.

In the 11th over, Anukul snapped wickets of Nissanka, who had just reached his second-fifty of the competition, courtesy a stumping from keeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 29-ball 50 (with five fours and three sixes) and hit Tristan Stubbs' off-stump when he was at 2. DC sunk to 89/5 in 10.5 overs from a dominant position of 74/1.

Ashutosh Sharma and skipper Axar Patel were well contained by the spinners Varun, Anukul and Sunil in the middle-overs. The spinners put on an exceptional squeeze. From overs 11 to 15, DC could score just 18 runs and only one boundary came from the bat of Nissanka.

DC reached the 100-run mark in 16 overs. It took Ashutosh's six to break a boundary-less streak of 38 balls on the third ball of the 17th over and he further relieved pressure with two more fours, ending the over with 16 runs.

Vaibhav Arora ended skipper Axar's stay at the crease, courtesy a fine catch from Anukul. The captain played a poor knock of 11 in 22 balls, reducing DC to 128/6 in 18.3 overs. However, Ashutosh ended the over with a four and six.

With assistance from skipper Ajinkya Rahane, Kartik got his second wicket, removing Ashutosh for a 28-ball 39, with three fours and sixes each, bringing down DC to 140/7 in 19.2 overs. He also removed Mitchell Starc for a duck, reducing DC to 140/8 in 19.4 overs.

DC ended their innings at 142/8, with Lungi Ngidi (1*) and Vipraj Nigam (3*) unbeaten.

Kartik (2/25 in four overs) and Anukul (2/31 in four overs) were the standout bowlers, while Varun (0/28 in four overs) and Narine (1/17 in four overs) also choked DC with their spin.

- ANI