• Nortje helps Delhi break IPL duck

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    Anrich Nortje delivered with the ball as the Delhi Capitals claimed their first win of the 2023 IPL season on Thursday.

    The Capitals bowled out the Kolkata Knight Riders for 127 in 20 overs, with the Proteas quick taking 2-20 in four overs, including the scalp of Venkatesh Iyer (second-ball duck).

    Under-pressure Capitals captain David Warner then scored 57 off 41 balls to help his team win by four wickets with four balls to spare and snap their five-match losing start to the season.

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    The left-handed Warner began strongly with a few boundaries but Delhi stuttered after they lost Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh and Phil Salt in quick succession.

    Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy sent back Warner lbw for his second wicket and Manish Pandey became impact player Anukul Roy’s second scalp to raise Kolkata’s hopes.

    Axar Patel (19) and Lalit Yadav (four) stayed calm to steer Delhi home.

    The second match of the day started an hour late due to evening rains in the national capital and the home team elected to field before picking up an early wicket in Bangladesh’s Liton Das.

    Returning fast bowler Ishant Sharma, playing his first IPL match since 2021, stood out with key wickets of Rana and Sunil Narine before being substituted under the new impact player rule.

    Others joined in as Nortje, spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets each to bundle out the opposition on the final ball of the innings.

    England opener Jason Roy hit a valiant 43 in his first outing this season and Andre Russell overcame a slow start to smack an unbeaten 38 with three successive sixes in the final over.

    © Agence France-Presse

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    Simon Borchardt