NEW DELHI: Old Warhorse Ishant Sharma made his presence felt after making a memorable comeback in the IPL as the Delhi Capitals (DC) pacer claimed two wickets in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday.
DC finally registered their first win of the IPL 2023 season after five losses on the trot, beating KKR by four wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The DC dismissed the KKR for 127 before chasing down the total in 19.2 overs.
Seasoned paceman Ishant proved his worth in his comeback IPL match in nearly two years, clocking 140 kmph-mark during his four-over spell. He finished with 2-19 and was named 'Player of the Match' for his outstanding performance.
"Ishant was very accurate with the ball. And you also gain confidence when you enter the field with an experienced player. He knows the conditions well in Delhi and gave us important breakthroughs. I have massive respect for him as he produced such a performance after being unwell for a week," DC's left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav was quoted as saying by Delhi Capitals.
Kuldeep Yadav, who returned figures of 2/15, spoke about the importance of the victory and said that the first win in the tournament is always important to gain momentum.
"The first win is always important to gain momentum. We bowled very well against Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a great effort from our side to restrict them to 127," he said.
The Delhi franchise was in a spot of bother when Manish Pandey and Aman Khan fell in quick succession during the team's chase. When asked about the same, Kuldeep said, "We lost back-to-back wickets at one point in the game. But we weren't too tense as there were few runs to get. Axar and Lalit finished the game for us. You always have to fight for your first win and we did that."
Speaking about his own bowling performance, Kuldeep said, "I am really happy that my contributions have helped the team win. If I am bowling well and our team is not winning, my performance doesn't matter."
(With ANI inputs)
