Following a crushing defeat against Punjab Kings at home, where their target of 262 was chased down with astonishing ease, Kolkata Knight Riders showed resilience and determination. In their Indian Premier League 2024 match in Kolkata on Monday, they secured a comfortable seven-wicket win over Delhi Capitals. Opener Philip Salt scored yet another blistering fifty-plus knock after Varun Chakravarthy's exploits with the ball as Kolkata chased down a paltry 154 in just 16.3 overs.

At the toss, DC skipper Rishabh Pant reckoned that the pitch would be dry and would aid spinners, which absolutely did, but the visitors did not help themselves much. Opting to bat first, the Capitals were stopped at 153 for nine by KKR's disciplined bowlers. The team scored 67 runs in the power play while losing three wickets. However, the visitors simply caved in after the dismissal of Pant (27 off 20 balls). Batting at number nine, spinner Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with an unbeaten 35 off 26 balls. Varun was the pick of the bowlers for KKR as he finished with excellent figures of 3/16 in four overs, while the returning Vaibhav Arora too impressed, with an unplayable delivery getting him the wicket of Shai Hope.

In response to the target, Kolkata raced to 79 for no loss in the power play with Salt (68 off 33 balls) taking the DC bowling attack to the cleaners. Salt's aggressive knock laid the perfect foundation for the home team to complete the chase of 154 with 21 balls to spare.

IPL 2024 updated points table after KKR vs DC

Heading into the game, five teams were locked at 10 points, but Kolkata Knight Riders have separated themselves from the lot as they strengthened their hold over the second position with an emphatic win at the Eden Gardens, which also helped them to improve their net run-rate to 1.096. KKR now have the best run-rate in the 10-team standings as they consolidated their position at second place with 12 points from nine matches.

Meanwhile, Delhi remain at the sixth spot in the table with 10 points from 11 matches. With just three more games in their hand, time seems to be running out of their hands to force a way into the playoffs.

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