Coulter-Nile s 3/34 restricts Delhi to 160/6 against KKR

Kolkata April 28 (IANS) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile picked up three wickets to blunt Sanju Samson s half century and restrict Delhi Daredevils to 160/6 in 20 overs in an Indian Premier League game at the Eden Gardens on Friday.

Australian Coulter-Nile coming back into the side after a one-match break returned best figures of (3/34) in his four overs picking up the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant at crucial junctures to halt Delhi s surge.

Samson (60; 38b 4x4 3x6) top-scored with his second fifty of the IPL season while Iyer (47; 34b 4x4 1x6) played a good hand too.

Ankit Bawne -- playing in place of Aditya Tare -- was not out on 12 while Pat Cummins did not face a ball when their innings ended.

Delhi openers Karun Nair (15; 17b 3x4 0x6) and Samson started well with the former playing the aggressor s role in the first few overs welcoming Chris Woakes with two consecutive boundaries in his first two deliveries of the match.

The pair stitched together a 48-run stand before Narine removed Nair who missed a sweep with the ball striking his back leg for a plumb leg before wicket decision.

The hosts suffered a blow when in-form wicketkeeper batsman Robin Uthappa picked up a knock and had to leave the field with Sheldon Jackson -- playing in place of Piyush Chawla -- taking over the gloves in the 10th over.

Iyer and Samson did not hit a boundary for 46 balls before the latter brought up his fifty with a six off Kuldeep Yadav over the square leg boundary.

The duo engineered a 75-run partnership for the second wicket before Samson tried to play across the line and was plumb in front off the bowling of Umesh Yadav (1/38).

Iyer at the other end took time to settle down before finally looking to accelerate by hitting Umesh for two back-to-back fours. Yusuf Pathan made a hash of the first one failing to stop the innocuous ball.

Rishabh Pant (6) did not last long adjudged LBW unluckily when the ball was going down leg off Coulter-Nile s delivery. In the same over Iyer was sent back just three short of his half century by the Australian.

Corey Anderson (2; 5b; 0x4 0x6) was dropped twice by Kuldeep in the 17th over before the New Zealand all-rounder was run out.

Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils 160/6 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 60 Shreyas Iyer 47; Nathan Coulter-Nile 3/34 Sunil Narine 1/25)

--IANS
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