Shikhar Dhawan played a knock of 69 runs as Delhi Capitals defeated Punjab Kings by seven wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
Along with Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw also played a quickfire knock of 39 runs. For Punjab Kings, Chris Jordon, Harpreet Brar, and Riley Meredith returned with one wicket each. With this win, Delhi Capitals has moved to the first spot in the points table with 12 points from 8 games while Punjab Kings remain in sixth place with six points. Chasing 167, Delhi Capitals got off to a flying start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan put on 63 runs inside the first six overs. The introduction of Harpreet Brar paid off immediately as he clean bowled Prithvi (39) in the seventh over of the innings.
Steve Smith then joined Dhawan in the middle and the duo put on 47 runs for the second wicket but with just 50 runs away from the target, Delhi ended up losing the wicket of Smith (24) in the 13th over. Rishabh Pant then came to the middle and he played a useful 14-run cameo. In the end, Dhawan along with Shimron Hetmyer (16*) took Delhi over the line with seven wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare.
Earlier, Mayank Agarwal played an unbeaten knock of 99 runs as Punjab Kings posted a score of 166/6 in the allotted twenty overs. Along with Agarwal, Dawid Malan also chipped in with a knock of 26 runs. For Delhi Capitals, Kagiso Rabada returned with three wickets.
Asked to bat first, Punjab Kings got off to a bad start as the side lost Prabhsimran Singh (12) and Chris Gayle (13) inside the first six overs and the side’s powerplay score read 39/2. Kagiso Rabada took the first two wickets for the Delhi Capitals.
Dawid Malan then joined Mayank Agarwal in the middle and the duo mixed caution with aggression to revive the innings for Punjab. Both batsmen put on 52 runs for the third wicket, but as soon as Punjab started to gain an upper hand, Delhi stormed right back as Axar Patel bowled Malan (26). In the very next over, Deepak Hooda (1) was run-out and as a result, Punjab was reduced to 88/4 in the 14th over.
After Hooda’s dismissal, Mayank took on the mantle of being the aggressor and he even dispatched Ishant Sharma for 15 runs in the 16th over. Shahrukh Khan (4) and Chris Jordon (2) disappointed with the bat, but Mayank ensured that Punjab posts a score of more than the 160-run mark.
Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 166/6 (Mayank Agarwal 99*, Dawid Malan 26, Kagiso Rabada 3-36) vs Delhi Capitals 167/3 (Shikhar Dhawan 69*, Prithvi Shaw 39, Harpreet Brar 1-19).
