Out on 92 in the 15th over but Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan had done enough to help his team pick up their second victory of the 2021 IPL season, with a 6 wicket win over KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings.
Punjab had posted 195/4 but Delhi managed to successfully chase down the target with 10 balls to spare and are now second in the IPL standings with two victories in three outings. Virat Kohli’s RCB, unbeaten so far this season, are currently first with three wins.
After faltering in the last match, Delhi’s openers once again were on their A-game as they crossed the 50-run mark in the fifth over. In fact Dhawan hit Shamsi for three boundaries in the over to get the score to 57/0 after 5 overs.
Arshdeep Singh though got Punjab the big breakthrough in the very next over with Prithvi Shaw caught by Chris Gayle on a 17-ball 32.
Steve Smith, playing his debut game for Delhi Capitals, mostly watched the action unfold from the non-striker’s end as Shikhar Dhawan switched gears and hit some big boundaries. The former Aussie captain’s stint in the middle was ended five overs later when he was caught off Meredith on 9, having faced 12 deliveries.
Dhawan though continued his onslaught, even hitting Meredith for three back-to-back boundaries in the 14th over. His innings though was ended just 8 runs short of his century when Jhye Richardson managed to castle him on a 49-ball 92.
Delhi were 152/3 after 15 overs and needed 44 runs off the last 30 deliveries. A task that was made easier by Shami during his 17th over when he bowled two no balls and went for 20 runs. Stoinis hit two fours and a six in the over and Mohammed Shami ended his spell having given away as many as 53 runs with no wickets to show.
While Pant was dismissed by Richardson off the first ball of the very next over, it was too little too late for PBKS as Stoinis finished the match with a four in the 19th over.
Earlier, after being put into bat first, the openers gave Punjab Kings a solid start, stitching together a 122-run opening partnership. Birthday boy KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal both scored half centuries as Punjab posted 195/4.
Agarwal was the more aggressive of the two, smashing 69 runs in 36 balls with seven fours and four sixes. The pair managed to get PBKS to 59 runs within the powerplay.
However, after Rahul got out on 61 with the team’s score at 141/2 in 15.2 overs, Delhi managed to clip the flow of runs as Punjab managed to post 195/4 in their 20 overs.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)