By K Aditya
Sharjah, Oct 13 (UNI) Table-toppers Delhi Capitals managed to put up a below-par 136-run target for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021 Qualifier 2 match here on Wednesday.

The target could be tricky for KKR to chase down with Delhi finding it hard to clobber boundaries on a Sharjah surface that provided no pace to bank on as a 39-ball 36 from Shikhar Dhawan took them to 135/5.
Among KKR bowlers, Varun Chakravarthy did the most of damage with two wickets while Lockie Ferguson and Shivam Mavi picked a scalp each.
Sent in to bat first, DC openers Prithvi Shaw and Dhawan matched each other shot for shot to pile up 32 runs in the first four over.
The bright start was short -lived as KKR's dependable strike bowler Varun Chakravarthy gave them the breakthrough at the beginning of the next over. The mystery spinner outfoxed Shaw (18 off 12) with a googly that deceived an inside edge to hit the batter's pad.
The pitch started showing it's true colour as well with a set Dhawan and newly-in Marcus Stoinis finding it hard to churn out boundaries.
The duo did manage to add 39 runs for the second wicket but runs came at a snail pace with just two boundaries in the seven overs they batted together.
The partnership was ended by pacer Shivam Mavi in the 12th over as the Indian fast bowler played down the Australian all-rounder at 18 (23).
With just 73/2 in 12 overs at that point meant there was an urgency for runs among DC middle-order; triggering a mini batting collapse.
In space of 17 runs, Chakravarthy removed Dhawan after the opener scored a miserable 39-ball 36. Skipper Rishabh Pant (6 off 6) followed soon as he fell to pacer Lockie Ferguson in the 16th over.
Runs did came late with Shreyas Iyer (30* off 27) and Shimron Hetmyer (17 off 10) firing 36 runs in the last three overs to take DC to 135/4 at the end of 30 overs.
UNI KND SHK2204