A stunning ton from senior opener Shikhar Dhawan propelled Delhi Capitals to 164/5 against Kings XI Punjab at Dubai on Tuesday. Delhi Capitals were off to a great star as they managed to attain 53 runs in the first six overs (powerplay) even after losing star opener Prithvi Shaw for just seven runs. Shikhar Dhawan continued his fabulous batting form from the last game, and scored runs all over the ground in style to get past 5000 runs in IPL with a huge six. As soon as Dhawan scored his ton, he became first player in the history of IPL to score back-to-back hundreds.
If Delhi Capitals attain a win, they will cement a spot on top of the IPL 2020 points table while a win for Kings XI Punjab will help them survive and keep their playoffs qualifying chances alive.
Delhi Capitals won the toss and opted to bat first against KXIP. While Punjab chose to bring in Jimmy Neesham for this game by benching Chris Jordan, Delhi were boosted by return of their hard-hitting batsman Rishbah Pant in the playing XI. Delhi also decided to include Shimron Hetymer and Daniel Sams in their playing XI.
For Delhi, Prithvi Shaw came out to open for Delhi Capitals in the absence of Ajinkya Rahane, with regular opener Shikhar Dhawan. Shikhar Dhawan got off the mark with a blistering four but his partner Prithvi Shaw's lean patch in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 continued as Jimmy Neesham got the first breakthrough for Punjab in his first over. A mistimes shot from him guided the ball straight to Glenn Maxwell and he departed for seven.
Shikhar Dhawan was in great touch and after playing some careful strokes, he decided to go aggressive against Mohammed Shami by smashing him for three overs in an over. The DC senior opener continued to score runs freely and Shreyas Iyer, the consistent run-scorer for Delhi Capitals, got off the mark with a massive six to complete his 2000 runs in IPL. Delhi Capitals finished the powerplay at 53/1.
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Soon, Shikhar Dhawan notched up his 40th IPL fifty off just 28 balls, his third in IPL 2020. Shreyas Iyer (14 runs off 12 balls) was caught brilliantly behind the wickets by KXIP skipper KL Rahul off Murugan Ashwin's delivery. Pressure of making some quick runs again got Pant this time and he had to depart for 14 off 20 balls and this time Glenn Maxwell struck at the right time.
Pacer Mohammed Shami was the star of what was an economical bowling effort from KXIP. He took two wickets and conceded 28 runs in his four overs.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 164/5 wkts in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 106 not out, Shreyas Iyer 12; Mohammed Shami 2/28)
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Daniel Sams, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tushar Deshpande, Kagiso Rabada
Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh