IPL: Amazing feeling to win my first game as skipper, says Shreyas

Newly-appointed Delhi Daredevils' skipper Shreyas Iyer was elated to register a win in his first game as the leader as he credited the entire team for a thumping 55-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Friday.

Iyer, who replaced former skipper Gautam Gambhir, blasted an unbeaten 93 off just 40 deliveries, which propelled Delhi to a massive 219/4 on Friday. Later, some good bowling by Delhi restricted KKR to 164 runs as the hosts won the issue by 55 runs.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Iyer said: "Obviously a great feeling getting on the winning side. It is an amazing feeling winning my first game as a skipper. All of us contributed for this win."

"We wanted to bowl first. So, a nice toss to lose. It gave the batsman the freedom to express themselves," the Delhi skipper added.

Showering praise on young Prithvi Shaw, who smashed a 44-ball 62 against KKR, the 23-year-old said, "Prithvi has been really batting well since the start of the season. Even in the practice games before the IPL. It is always important how he is starting off. Colin Munro at the top with him added 50 runs and that benefitted the team."

Further, Iyer also lauded his bowler's effort and said interactions with them benefits the team.

"Liam Plunkett is our go-to guy. He came up to me and told me he wants to bowl the 16th or 17th over, whichever over he bowled. And I really like it when my bowlers come up to me and talk. It is really good," Iyer opined.

On the other side, KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik expressed disappointment over his team's second successive loss.

"220 is a big task, if the dew had come in, it would have made it easy for us but today was that sort of a day where there was no dew. I thought they really batted much better than us," Karthik said.

The 32-year-old also accepted that his side didn't play a good game cricket on Friday.

"If Russell starts hitting, he gives us hope but he is also a human being. We need to put our hands up and say we didn't play good cricket," said Karthik.

While KKR will be up against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, Delhi will face-off table toppers Chennai Super Kings a day later.

--IANS

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