Dhawan leads Delhi to easy win
Mumbai, India - Shikhar Dhawan's 49-ball 92 outshone Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul's half-centuries as the Delhi Capitals beat the Punjab Kings by six wickets in a run-fest at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
After being sent in, Mayank Agarwal and Rahul gave the Kings a blazing start of 122 in 12.4 overs. Agarwal was the aggressor, hitting seven fours and four sixes in his 36-ball 69, while Rahul played second fiddle with 61 off 51 deliveries.
The Kings posted a formidable 195 for four but Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw laid the platform for the Capitals' chase with a start of 59 in 5.3 overs. After that it was the Dhawan show. Targeting primarily the leg side, the opener struck 13 fours and two sixes and kept the Capitals on par with the required rate.
For the second time in three games he had a chance to score a hundred. He failed once again but his knock had put the Capitals ahead. So much that when Marcus Stoinis hit the winning boundary, there were still ten balls left.
Dream start for Kings
Chris Woakes conceded only five in the opening over but a 20-run second over opened the floodgates for the Kings. That over, left-arm seamer Lukman Meriwala's first in the IPL, featured a dropped catch, a misfield, a no-ball, three fours and a six. By the end of the fifth over, Agarwal and Rahul had added 50. Kagiso Rabada was introduced into the attack in the sixth over; Rahul greeted him with a four through point but looked subdued. Agarwal, meanwhile, hit a four off Avesh Khan, and raced away to his 50 in 25 balls.
Meriwala eventually broke the stand when Agarwal holed out to sweeper cover trying to reach out for a wide delivery. It was Rahul's 29th birthday and looked like the Capitals' fielders didn't want to spoil his day as he was dropped thrice. Stoinis finally made amends when he caught him off Rabada in the 16th over.
Deepak Hooda continued his good form with an unbeaten 22 off 13 balls. Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran fell in search of quick runs, leaving the Kings 179 for four after 19 overs. Shahrukh Khan muscled Woakes for two fours and a six in the final over.
Dhawan-Shaw show
Chasing 196, Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw didn't waste any time and gave their side an even better start than the Kings had got. Rahul tried four different bowlers in the first four overs - Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Jalaj Saxena and Jhye Richardson - and each one of them went for at least ten in their respective overs.
When Shami returned in the fifth over, Dhawan creamed him for three fours. By the end of the fifth over, the Capitals were for 57 for no loss. Shaw ended up miscuing a pull against Arshdeep and fell for a 17-ball 32. Dhawan, though, kept batting in the same vein. Having reached his fifty in 31 balls, he stepped out against Shami and hit him for a six over long-on. But it was the 14th over, bowled by Meredith, that turned the game decisively as Dhawan hit the first three balls for fours. The next delivery went for five wides. Dhawan had moved into the 90s and the Capitals needed 53 off 36 balls. However, he fell eight short of 100 when Jhye
Richardson bowled him. Delhi still needed 36 from 24 balls. Stoinis hit two fours and a six off Shami in 17th over and then hit the winning runs for an unbeaten 27 off 13 balls.