Kolkata Knight Riders locked horns with Lucknow Super Giants in Match 51 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. KKR won the toss and opted to bowl first on the Delhi pitch. DC couldn’t stand a chance against KKR’s bowling in the first innings, falling like cards back to back. Only Pathum Nissanka played an innings of 50 in 29 balls to take DC to a respectable total of 142 on the board.
KKR’s bowling unit, although it suffered a huge blow at the start of the season, but their spinning duo, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, made a comeback, along with good spells from Kartik Tyagi, Cameron Green and Anukul Roy, which has given them back-to-back wins and defended low totals. Anukul Roy and Kartik Tyagi, with a spell of two wickets each, have been the highlight against DC and Narine’s economy rate of 4.2 once again settled things. Varun Chakravarthy remained wicketless today.
Coming to bowl his final over, Varun Chakravarthy leaked 16 runs and was seen limping, which made Ajinkya Rahane come up to speak to him. After the completion of his full overs, he was immediately subbed off the field, and Finn Allen entered the field as the impact sub.
Ajinkya Rahane as a captain lost again. He didn't have a plan for the injured Varun Chakravarthy and forced him to bowl last over, and that over went for runs. pic.twitter.com/OD2jKXI7QR
— ArreO Sambha (@NonPlyingChar) May 8, 2026
“Break was important”, KKR’s bowling coach Dwayne Bravo said on Varun Chakravarthy’s fitness
Varun Chakravarthy’s lean season from the T20 World Cup continued in the initial matches of IPL. KKR’s bowling coach Dwayne Bravo attributed this to over-fatigue both mentally and physically that affected the spinner.
“Yeah, I think in sports, especially when you play at this level, everything is very result-oriented and sometimes people get very emotional,” Bravo said. “A player like Varun, who is a world-class spinner, has just come out of the World Cup, which was also a very hectic tournament.” “So a break at the right time is always important, but no one ever questioned his ability because when you are that good, it is only a matter of time before you come back into form.”
He also pointed out that the long IPL season is very mentally and physically draining, and to come directly to the game as a senior player with lots of responsibilities, it is not easy to keep up.
After he was scrutinised for his performance in the first few IPL matches, Vaun picked up 10 wickets in the next four matches and played a major role in reviving KKR’s campaign, including a crucial three-wicket spell against SRH.
