View source for IPL: Delhi Thumps Kolkata Rajasthan Beats Lucknow

<br>MUMBAI, India (AP) - Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav grabbed three wickets in four balls as Delhi Capitals thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by 44 runs in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.<br> <br>Fast bowler Kuldeep Sen bowled a brilliant last over against Marcus Stoinis as Rajasthan Royals recorded a thrilling three-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in the day's other match.<br>The victory lifted Rajasthan to the top of the table with six points from four games and a superior net run-rate.<br> <br>Kuldeep dealt a triple blow to Kolkata´s pursuit of Delhi´s strong total of 215-5 when he claimed the wickets of Pat Cummins and Sunil Narine before holding onto a splendid two-handed diving catch to dismiss Umesh Yadav in the 16th over.<br> <br>Kolkata was bowled out for 171 in 19.4 overs with Shardul Thakur claiming the last two wickets.<br> <br>Captain Shreyas Iyer had kept Kolkata in the hunt of a huge target by scoring 54 runs off 33 balls before he was outfoxed by Kuldeep´s turning delivery and stumped in the 13th over as Delhi´s premier spinner finished with figures of 4-35.<br> <br>Fast bowler Khaleel Ahmed took 3-25 that included the key strikes of openers Venkatesh Iyer (18) and Ajinkya Rahane (8) in the batting powerplay that stalled Kolkata´s chase.<br> <br>Earlier, after being put into bat, Delhi prospered with an opening stand between David Warner (61) and Prithvi Shaw (51).<br><br>Both batters scored freely in a 93-run stand, compiling 50 runs in the first four overs.<br> <br>Warner didn´t allow the bowling attack to settle down with his clean hitting as the Australian batter dominated Kolkata´s pace and spin.<br> <br>"Felt pretty good," Warner said.<br><br>"Prithvi is an exciting player and he takes the pressure off."<br> <br>Skipper Rishabh Pant played a little cameo of 27 off 14 as only Narine returned impressive figures of 2-21 off his four overs.<br> <br>Thakur (29 not out) and Axar Patel (22 not out) added a rapid 49 runs off the last 20 balls that included 39 in the last two overs of Pat Cummins (0-51) and Umesh Yadav (1-48).<br> <br>"They got off to a really quick start (and) we were a bit clueless what to do," Iyer said.<br><br>"They built on a really good partnership at the start and carried that till the 10th over. We made a decision (to field first) and that didn´t work out well."<br> <br>SEN'S WINNING OVER<br> <br>Stoinis hit 38 not out off 17 balls overall against Rajasthan but Sen bowled three successive dot balls to the Australian batter which restricted Lucknow to 162-8.<br> <br>Asked to bat, Rajasthan had scored 165-6.<br> <br>Lucknow fell to 1-2 in the first over after Trent Boult (2-30) claimed both his wickets off his first two legitimate balls.<br><br>That included the dismissal of captain Lokesh Rahul for a golden duck for the second time this year.<br> <br>Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal ran through the middle-order with 4-41 before Stoinis threatened to turn the game on its head.<br> <br>Needing 34 off the last two overs, Stoinis smacked fast bowler Prasidh Krishna for 19 runs with two straight sixes and a flicked boundary to fine leg.<br> <br>But Sen kept his nerve against Stoinis in the last over and didn´t concede runs off his second, third and fourth balls before Stoinis hammered a four and a six off the final two deliveries to reduce the margin of defeat.<br> <br>Shimron Hetmyer had held the Rajasthan innings together with a gritty unbeaten 59 off 36 in the second half of the innings.<br> <br>Hetmyer hit six sixes and a four and  [http://firmidablewiki.com/index.php/Kolkata_Beats_Bangalore_In_Kohli_apos;s_200th_IPL_Game firmidablewiki.com] didn´t spare his countryman Jason Holder in the death overs.<br><br>Holder returned figures of 2-50, conceding 34 off his last two overs.<br> <br>Lucknow, which has played five games, has six points.<br> <br>___<br> <br>More AP cricket: website and website