Punjab beat Delhi as Shikhar Dhawan’s century goes in vain
Opener Shikhar Dhawan’s magnificent century for Delhi Capitals (DC) was in vain as Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) cruised to a convincing fivewicket win in their Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 fixture worked off in Dubai, United Arab Emirates yesterday.
Dhawan raced to his century in 57 deliveries, becoming the firstever batsmen in IPL history to score successive centuries. His innings comprised of 12 boundaries and three huge sixes as DC posted a challenging 164 for five after Skipper Shreyas Iyer had opted to bat first.
However, KXIP reached their target with ease thanks to a 28-ball 53 from Nicholas Pooran who hoisted three sixes and struck half a dozen of boundaries with useful contributions coming from Chris Gayle (29) and Glen Maxwell (32).
Earlier, Dhawan stole the limelight with back-to-back centuries for DC after having scored his maiden T20 hundred in the previous match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Even then, Dhawan received little support from his teammates as the other batsmen around him struggled to get going.the next highest scorer for DC was 14 each by Iyer and Rishabh Pant.
Dhawan was in full flow right from the start and smashed Glenn Maxwell for a boundary and a six in the very first over. He reached his century in 57 deliveries becoming the first ever to score back-to-back IPL centuries.
Jos Buttler had come close to scoring successive centuries in 2018 but was out for 95 and 94 runs while Shane Watson recorded 101 and 98 in 2013. But none got to a hundred before Dhawan achieved it against Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2020.Dhawan remained not out on 106 from 61 deliveries with 12 boundaries and three sixes. Agencies