Heading into this match, Varun had endured a difficult season with figures of 9.72 and eight wickets in eight matches. While Narine had braved the flat conditions, particularly in Kolkata, to deny the batsmen access to the boundaries, his spin partner, like every other bowler in KKR's matches, had gone for plenty.
Now, however, Varun had a little help from the pitch and could have struck the first ball had Harshit Rana - who had just dismissed the dangerous Abishek Porel in the previous over - not dropped a sitter to Rishabh Pant at short third slip. Pant, however, went after Varun again in his next over - the 11th of the Capitals' innings - and again mishit, this time with Shreyas trapping him safely in the covers.
Varun was getting the ball to bite on the surface and he quickly picked up two more wickets, that of Tristan Stubbs and Kumar Kushagra - who came in as an impact sub in a failed attempt to extend DC's batting and stem the collapse. When Narine dismissed Axar Patel at the other end, the Capitals were eight down in the 15th over.
They managed to see out their 20, with Kuldeep getting them there with a mixture of skill and luck. He hit two-edged fours in his first four balls, then hit a six off Starc that was almost a catch at deep backward square leg, and eventually finished with a control percentage of 41. They were important runs for DC, though, as they ensured they got to 150.