KKR post imposing 272/7 against Delhi Capitals
Visakhapatnam, Apr 3: Sunil Narine produced a six-hitting exhibition en route to a blistering 85 while young Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored a fifty on his IPL batting debut as Kolkata Knight Riders posted an imposing 272 for seven against Delhi Capitals here on Wednesday.
Continuing his explosive run, Narine punished all Delhi bowlers alike, sending the ball over the boundary rope seven times. He also hit seven fours in his 39-ball stay.
The Capitals were guilty of dropping him on 53 and Narine made his opponents suffer as he notched his highest-ever score in T20 cricket.
Raghuvanshi (54 off 27 balls), who didn't get to bat in his first IPL match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, also fired on all cylinders, complementing Narine as the pair shared an explosive 104-run stand off 48 balls.
Andre Russell (41 off 19 balls) and Rinku Singh (26 off 8 balls) provided the final flourish to KKR.
It was a forgettable performance by the Delhi bowlers as they conceded the highest total in the team's history. KKR hit as many as 18 sixes and 28 fours.
Narine his his first of many boundaries when he creamed a short ball by Khaleel Ahmed to deep point.
The West Indian took a special liking for veteran pacer Ishant Sharma, collecting 26 runs from the fourth over that included three sixes and two fours, giving a glimpse of what was to come.
At the other end Phil Salt hit a few before he was dropped by David Warner, but the Englishman couldn't make use of the reprieve, getting out in the very next ball to bring Raghuvanshi to the middle.
The 18-year-old hit his very first ball of the IPL for a boundary and that was followed by another four.
KKR continued to hit boundaries aplenty, amassing 88 runs in the powerplay as DC bowlers struggled to find ways to stop them.
DC seemed to make inroads by dismissing Narine and Raghuvanshi in consecutive overs but Russell had other plans.
The DC bowlers were guilty of feeding the all-rounder with full tosses which he dispatched to the boundary with ease.
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Delhi sizzles at 42.8 deg C, logs hottest day of year so far
New Delhi (PTI): The national capital sweltered on Saturday, recording its highest maximum temperature of the year so far. Several weather stations reported heatwave conditions across the city, even as the IMD has forecast rain from Monday to Wednesday, bringing some hope of respite to Delhiites.
While a yellow alert had been issued for Saturday, a similar alert remains in place for Sunday as well, warning people of isolated heatwave conditions.
On Saturday, Safdarjung, representative of the city's weather, recorded a maximum temperature of 42.8 degrees Celsius, 5.1 degrees above normal and a 0.9-degree rise from the day before, thus fulfilling the criteria for a heatwave.
According to the India Meteorological Department, a heatwave is classified when the maximum temperature is 40 degrees Celsius or above, and it is 4.5 degrees to 6.4 degrees above normal.
This was also the highest maximum recorded in Delhi in the last four years since 2022, when the maximum had reached 43.5 degrees Celsius on April 28, 2022.
Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 25.2 degrees Celsius, 2.5 degrees above normal and a mere 0.7-degree rise from the day before.
Other weather stations also recorded isolated heatwave conditions. Lodhi Road recorded a maximum temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius, 5.6 degrees above the normal; Ridge recorded a minimum of 44.5 degrees, 6.1 degrees above the normal; and Ayanagar logged a minimum temperature of 43.2 degrees Celsius, 4.8 degrees above the normal.
While the IMD had initially classified Friday as the season's first isolated heat wave, the MeT department later clarified on Saturday that it had been the third consecutive day of a heatwave.
IMD classifies a heatwave when at least two stations have met the required criteria. An IMD official clarified that while Delhi had fulfilled the heatwave condition only in one station on Thursday, the two-step criteria are actually for the entire subdivision of Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi.
"On Thursday, one station, Rohtak to be specific, of Haryana and Ridge of Delhi, had satisfied heatwave criteria, thus making it the first day. Saturday was the third consecutive day of heat waves," an IMD official said.
Meanwhile, the weather department has issued a yellow alert for Sunday as well. The official added, "These conditions are likely to continue till Sunday.
Under the influence of the setting in of lower tropospheric level easterly winds, the maximum temperature might drop on Tuesday, as forecasts suggest very light rain possible from Monday.
According to forecasts by the MeT department, a spell of very light rain, along with thunderstorms and gusty winds, might bring some respite from Monday to at least Wednesday. The maximum temperature is forecast to fall to 38-40 degrees Celsius by the end of next week.
The minimum temperature is likely to be around 25-27 degrees Celsius for the next couple of days.
The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 243 (poor) at 4 pm, compared to an AQI of 226 (poor) recorded at the same time on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
According to CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has forecast the AQI to remain in the poor category over the weekend and then improve to the moderate category in the subsequent days.
