Coulter-Nile’s 3/34 restricts Delhi to 160/6 against KKR

Kolkata, April 28 (IANS) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile picked up three wickets to blunt Sanju Samson's half century and restrict Delhi Daredevils to 160/6 in 20 overs in an Indian Premier League game at the Eden Gardens on Friday.

Australian Coulter-Nile, coming back into the side after a one-match break, returned best figures of (3/34) in his four overs picking up the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant at crucial junctures to halt Delhi's surge.

Samson (60; 38b 4x4 3x6) top-scored with his second fifty of the IPL season while Iyer (47; 34b 4x4 1x6) played a good hand too.

Ankit Bawne -- playing in place of Aditya Tare -- was not out on 12 while Pat Cummins did not face a ball when their innings ended.

Delhi openers Karun Nair (15; 17b, 3x4, 0x6) and Samson started well with the former playing the aggressor's role in the first few overs, welcoming Chris Woakes with two consecutive boundaries in his first two deliveries of the match.

The pair stitched together a 48-run stand before Narine removed Nair who missed a sweep with the ball striking his back leg for a plumb leg before wicket decision.

The hosts suffered a blow when in-form wicketkeeper batsman Robin Uthappa picked up a knock and had to leave the field with Sheldon Jackson -- playing in place of Piyush Chawla -- taking over the gloves in the 10th over.

Iyer and Samson did not hit a boundary for 46 balls before the latter brought up his fifty with a six off Kuldeep Yadav over the square leg boundary.

The duo engineered a 75-run partnership for the second wicket before Samson tried to play across the line and was plumb in front off the bowling of Umesh Yadav (1/38).

Iyer at the other end, took time to settle down before finally looking to accelerate by hitting Umesh for two back-to-back fours. Yusuf Pathan made a hash of the first one, failing to stop the innocuous ball.

Rishabh Pant (6) did not last long, adjudged LBW unluckily when the ball was going down leg off Coulter-Nile's delivery. In the same over, Iyer was sent back just three short of his half century by the Australian.

Corey Anderson (2; 5b; 0x4, 0x6) was dropped twice by Kuldeep in the 17th over before the New Zealand all-rounder was run out.

Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils 160/6 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 60, Shreyas Iyer 47; Nathan Coulter-Nile 3/34, Sunil Narine 1/25)