Thanks to a brilliant knock by Dhawan, Delhi Capitals registered an emphatic win over Punjab Kings in the 29th match of IPL 2021 played at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Delhi Capitals captain Pant won the toss and decided to bowl first. It was a perfect start as Ishant Sharma bowled a maiden over to start with. Prabhsimran Singh looked out of sorts with his timing while Mayank Agarwal played cautiously. A good catch to mid-off ended the innings for Prabhsimran.
Mayank Agarwal played some shots and put some pressure on DC bowlers. Kagiso Rabada produced castled Gayle with a full toss after being hit for a six to leave Punjab Kings in trouble at 35 for 2. At the end of the first six overs, Punjab Kings made 39 for 2. Dawid Malan struggled with timing against Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel. At the end of the first timeout, Punjab Kings made 61 for 2.
Soon after the timeout, Malan survived an LBW shout given not out by the umpire, but the decision remained due to the umpire’s call. Agarwal also struggled with his timing and could not rotate the strike. Malan showed some intent against Ishant Sharma and other bowlers. Axar Patel got his first wicket getting rid of Malan. Malan and Agarwal added 52 runs for the 3rd wicket. Soon after, Deepak Hooda was involved in a mix-up with Agarwal as both batsmen got on one side. At the end of the second timeout, Punjab Kings made 90 for 4.
Mayank Agarwal upped the ante after timeout hitting boundaries and reached his fifty off 39 balls. Avesh Khan was superb with his execution dismissing Sharukh Khan as Hetymer took a good catch. Sharukh and Mayank added 41 runs for the 5th wicket. Harpreet Brar continued from where left in the last over smacking a superb boundary off Avesh Khan. Mayank Agarwal came on strike hitting 16 runs off the last 3 balls to help Punjab Kings post 166 for 6 in 20 overs.
Chasing 167 runs to win, Prithvi Shaw showed his sublime batting putting pressure on Punjab Kings bowling, especially Mohammed Shami. Dhawan also kept the pressure with great timing and did not allow their bowlers to settle. At the end of the first six overs, Delhi Capitals raced away to 63 for 0.
Harpreet Brar produced a superb delivery to dismiss the dangerous Shaw ending 63 runs opening partnership. Steve Smith looked in good touch taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries along with Dhawan to make life easy. Meredith got the wicket of Smith providing an easy catch to Malan at deep square leg. Smith and Dhawan added 48 runs for the 2nd wicket. At the end of the 2nd timeout, Delhi Capitals ended at 111 for 2.
Dhawan was in sublime touch taking the attack to Bishnoi and reached his fifty off 35 balls. Pant also played some lovely shots before throwing his wicket to finish the match fast. Shimron Hetymer showed his true talent smashing 2 sixes and 1 four. Meredith bowled two wides to finish the match helping Delhi Capitals register 7 wickets win with 14 balls to spare.
Delhi Capitals 167 for 3 in 17.4 overs (Dhawan 69, Dhawan 39, Brar 1/19) beat Punjab Kings 166 for 6 in 20 overs (Mayank Agarwal 99, Malan 26, Rabada 3/36) by 7 wickets.
With this win, Delhi Capitals moved up to the top of the points table. For his unbeaten 99*, Mayank Agarwal was awarded the man of the match.
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