Phil Salt’s attacking 68 and bowling figures of 3-16 by Varun Chakravarthy helped Kolkata Knight Riders hammer Delhi Capitals by seven wickets at a hot and humid Eden Gardens in the IPL on Monday.

Chakravarthy, a mystery spinner, led Kolkata’s disciplined bowling to restrict Delhi to 153-9 as players, who remained drenched in sweat, and fans braved the intense heat in the colonial-era capital.

Players from all the 10 IPL teams are keen to impress their national selectors with just one day left for countries to name their teams for the T20 World Cup in June.

The in-form Salt, an England wicketkeeper-batsman, led the chase with an opening stand of 79 with Sunil Narine and the two-time champions reached their target with 3.3 overs to spare.

“It is high-risk but it is also about putting the odds in your favor and not taking the risks you don’t want to,” Salt said of his attacking game.

“You just have to keep backing yourself and keep taking the right options.”

The mercury in the afternoon soared above 41 degrees Celsius for the third time this month, forcing the normally bustling streets to stay empty at noon.

But the sports-mad city witnessed a near-packed house at the 66,000 capacity stadium for the evening game and their home team did not disappoint with their sixth win in nine matches to move closer to booking a play-off spot.

Most of India’s eastern states and southern peninsula have remained under government heatwave alerts since last week, with relief not expected for several more days.

‘Learn from mistakes’
Delhi elected to bat first but lost regular wickets including Prithvi Shaw for 13 and fellow opener Jake Fraser-McGurk, out for 12 off let-arm quick Mitchell Starc.

Skipper Rishabh Pant attempted to resist the slide in his unconvincing knock of 27 before he was dismissed by man of the Chakravarthy.

Chakravarthy rattled the middle and lower-order to make Delhi slip to 111-8 before number nine Kuldeep Yadav claimed an unbeaten 35.

“I think that (batting first) was a good option but as a batting unit, we did not bat well enough. 150 was definitely below par,” said Pant.

“That is part and parcel of cricket. We have a long break ahead, where we can learn from our mistakes.”

Salt, who moved into the top five batsmen this IPL season with 392 runs, put the chase on track along with fellow opener Narine as the two clobbered 23 runs off the first over from Lizaad Williams.

He reached his fourth half-century of the season in 26 balls with a six off Khaleel Ahmed but fell to spinner Axar Patel after his 33-ball knock laced with seven fours and five sixes.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer, who made 33, and Venkatesh Iyer, who hit the winning six in his 23, steered the team home in an unbeaten stand of 57.

The match was a complete contrast to the previous game at the venue when Punjab Kings chased down an IPL record of 262 on another hot day. – AFP

Attack Energy defeated Abu Muslim 4-0 in the 19th match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Monday. In the 20th match of the tournament on the same day, Mawj Sahil downed Aino Mina 3-0.

Attack Energy’s three goals were scored by Khalil Ahmad (2) and Yar Mohammad Zakarkhel (1).

The fourth goal came in the form of Abu Muslim’s own goal headed by Abdullah Shah.

In the next match of day, Esmatullah Hadafmand, Mohammad Nazir Azizi and Yasar Salam scored goals as Mawj Sahil defeated Aino Mina 3-0.

Tuesday’s matches will see Khurasan Faryab take on Maiwand at 1pm while Sarsabz Yashlar meet Adalat Farah at 3:30pm.

The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.

India’s Virat Kohli on Sunday hit back at critics taking aim at his hitting prowess in T20 cricket after he slammed a match-winning unbeaten 70 off 44 balls in the Indian Premier League.

The in-form Kohli set up Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s chase of 201 before his younger partner Will Jacks blew away Gujarat Titans with his 41-ball 100 in Ahmedabad.

Kohli, who has now passed 500 runs in this edition, and England batsman Jacks put on an unbeaten stand of 166 to see Bengaluru home by nine wickets with four overs to spare.

But despite Kohli’s flowing form ahead of the T20 World Cup in June, pundits have raised concerns over his strike-rate as compared to a new breed of T20 batters, who deal in sixes.

“All the people who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well are the ones talking about this stuff,” Kohli said in response to looking at his season stats.

“For me, it’s about winning the games for the team and there’s a reason why you’ve done it for 15 years. You’ve done this day in and day out, you’ve won games for your teams, I’m not quite sure that if you haven’t been in that situation yourself, to sit and talk about the game from the box.”

Called “King Kohli” for his prolific run-scoring, the star batter has a strike rate of 147.49 in 10 IPL innings. In contrast, Australia’s up and coming batter Jake Fraser-McGurk has made 247 runs at a strike-rate of 237.50 for Delhi Capitals.

Kohli’s 51 in the previous match came in 43 balls, a contrast to teammate Rajat Patidar’s 20-ball 50 and former India quick RP Singh said the veteran batter was “slow”.

“For me, people can talk about their assumptions day in and day out, but those who have done it day in and day out, they know what’s happening and it’s a kind of muscle memory for me now,” said the 35-year-old Kohli.

Kohli struck the first century — his eighth in the IPL — of this edition earlier this month in 67 balls but the knock ended in a losing cause after Rajasthan Royals Jos Buttler hit 100 in 58 balls.

“I don’t want to be over-aggressive, want to keep the bowler guessing. They want me to go hard and get me out,” Kohli said after the knock on April 6.

“It’s just experience and maturity. I play the conditions and have the game ready.”

Bengaluru, who remain bottom of the 10-team table with just three wins in 10 matches, and Kohli still await their first IPL title. – AFP