Picture : Twitter / IPL
In sublime form Shikhar Dhawan is a treat to watch . And this is what the Punjab Kings found out during their IPL clash against the Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad. Dhawan’s impactful 69 dwarfed Mayank Agarwal’s heroic unbeaten 99 as Delhi Capitals defeated Punjab Kings by seven wickets to go atop the points table.
Agarwal, leading the side in the absence of regular skipper K L Rahul, played a lone hand to take Punjab Kings to 166 for six. Delhi kept things tight in the powerplay, conceding 39 runs and sending back Prabhsimran Singh (12) and the mighty Chris Gaye (13).
Gayle missed a fast full toss from Rabada after pulling the South African for a massive six.
Agarwal, who will captain the team as Rahul recovers from acute appendicitis, steadied the innings alongside IPL debutant Dawid Malan (26) as the two shared a 52-run partnership.
Delhi Capitals powered to victory in 17.4 overs, their sixth win in eight matches. For Punjab Kings, it was their fifth loss in eight games. The DC opening duo – Prithvi Shaw (39 off 22) and Dhawan (69 not out off 47) gave another flying start to Delhi who raced to 63 for no loss in six overs. To give the momentum to the innings.
Against the run of play, left-arm spinner Harpeet Brar carried on from where he left off in the game against RCB to dismiss the set Shaw off the very first ball of his first over, which turned just enough to clip the off-stump.
After that wicket, Punjab were able to bring down the scoring rate by conceding almost run-a-ball from over 7 to 10.
However, they also needed regular wickets to keep themselves in the game but that never came.
Following Steve Smith’s downfall, Dhawan stepped on the accelerator and swept Ravi Bishnoi for a six to complete his 44th fifty in the IPL. It was followed by couple of fours in the same over.
From there on, there was no stopping Delhi as in the end West Indian batsman Shimron Hetmyer (16 off 4) smashed two sixes and a four in the 18th over to take DC home with 14 balls to spare.
