Delhi Capitals defeated Punjab Kings by six wickets courtesy of Shikhar Dhawan’s magnificent 49-ball-92 innings at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night.
In the second game of the Sunday doubleheader, Delhi Capitals mowed down Punjab Kings’ target of 196 with six wickets and ten balls to spare. DC registered their second win of the tournament to move to the second spot in the points table, while PBKS suffered their second loss and are at seventh position.
As it happened, Delhi Capitals’ Rishabh Pant won the toss and had no hesitation to bowl first. But his bowlers weren’t up for the task. PBKS’ Mayank Agarwal pounced on DC bowlers and got the team to a blistering start as they brought 50 up on the board in five overs. Agarwal continued his attacking approach and brought up his first fifty of the season off 25 balls. Mayank’s knock of 69 off 36 with seven fours and four sixes ended as he skied one to deep point off Lukman Meriwala in the 13th over.
Punjab Kings’ captain KL Rahul played one of the worst knocks in the history of IPL. Rahul showed no intent whatsoever on a terrific batting surface. Taking 51 balls of the team’s quota and scoring 61 runs of it, is unacceptable. Rahul got out to Kagiso Rabada in the 16th over. PBKS added 55 runs in the last five overs thanks to some fine power-hitting from Deepak Hooda (22) and Shahrukh Khan (15). But PBKS were at least 20 runs short on that pitch. Avesh Khan was the pick of the bowlers for DC with the returns of 1 for 33 in four overs.
Chasing 196, DC openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw blasted their way off to a 59 runs partnership at the top in just 5.3 overs. The duo took on PBKS’ attack leader Mohammed Shami and smashed him to all parts of the ground. DC openers took 25 runs of Shami’s first two overs. Shaw’s quick cameo of 17-ball-32 ended as he tried to pull a short ball off Arshdeep Singh. DC’s new number 3, Steve Smith couldn’t get going in his innings and was dismissed on nine of 12, trying to hack one-off Riley Meredith.
But it was all a Shikhar Dhawan show afterwards as the southpaw played some glorious shots. Dhawan consistently moved around the crease and accessed different parts of the ground. He toyed with the field and PBKS bowlers in his sublime knock of 92 off just 49 deliveries. Jhye Richardson’s straight yorker put an end to Dhawan’s innings as he walked too across. His splendid knock included 13 fours and two sixes. DC still needed 44 off the last five overs with the skipper Pant at the crease.
Mohammed Shami’s night went from bad to worse when he came back to bowl his last over. Shami bowled two no-balls in the over, and Marcus Stoinis took the full toll with three boundaries. Shami conceded 20 runs in the over, and the game was dusted for PBKS, leaving DC only 16 to get off the last three overs.
Captain Pant couldn’t get going as he holed out on 15 off 16 to Richardson’s bowling. But Marcus Stoinis (27 off 13) and Lalit Yadav (12 off 6) took DC home swiftly with 1.4 overs to spare.
Delhi Capitals will next face Mumbai Indians on April 20th in Chennai, while Punjab Kings will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 21st in Chennai on Wednesday afternoon.
Brief Scores
Punjab Kings: 195-4 (Agarwal 69, KL Rahul 61, Avesh Khan 1/33, Meriwala 1/32)
Delhi Capitals: 198-4 (Dhawan 92, Shaw 32, Richardson 2/41, Arshdeep 1/22)
