Twitter Reactions: Shikhar Dhawan's 92 dwarfs a tall chase against Punjab Kings

DC did lose Rishabh Pant towards the end of the innings, although Marcus Stoinis, scoring 27* off just 13, ensured that Dhawan’s toil did not go in vain.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Shikhar Dhawan
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Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

Shikhar Dhawan’s sensational 92 off 49 pipped the Punjab Kings as Delhi Capitals romped home with a 6-wicket win with 10 balls to spare. Winning the toss, Rishabh Pant inserted Punjab Kings, mentioning the dew-factor that he felt was decisive as it makes tougher for the bowlers to find control. However, in a beastly attack, Mayank Agarwal made Delhi pay heavily, even if opting to bowl was a no-brainer.

Lukman Meriwala, on IPL debut, saw it all in his first over ever: welcomed with a boundary, a dropped catch next ball, a no-ball that was misfielded and went for a four, followed by a six and another boundary. Getting into the rhythm with a massive over, Agarwal barely looked back, while he attacked every bowler with equal disregard. The birthday boy, KL Rahul, found the going difficult, and striking below 100, he opted to play second fiddle to his partner.

Mayank’s manic assault

Rahul found his touch against Lalit Yadav, as he pulled and slashed him for a couple of boundaries, while Agarwal attacked Ashwin, launching for a six and four in the 9th over. Having got to his half-century in just 25 balls, he unleashed a brutal hitting exhibition against one of the better bowlers in the league, Kagiso Rabada, smashing him for no less than three sixes in the 11th over, which produced 20.

Things seemed entirely out of Capitals’ reach during the 122-run opening partnership. Although redeeming himself after a horrific start, Meriwala got Agarwal caught by Shikhar Dhawan to give his team some breathing space. Having played the perfect foil to Agarwal in a partnership that lasted 12.4 overs, Rahul pressed the accelerator against Avesh Khan but Rabada removed him in the 15th to dent Kings’ free-flowing innings considerably.

Capitals clawback  

Eyes were fixed on Chris Gayle, but his namesake Woakes ensured to remove him before he could have done much harm. Nicholas Pooran did manage to break his streak of ducks but failed to enter into double-digits as Rabada grabbed him at point off Avesh Khan.

The quick cameos from Deepak Hooda and Punjab’s lone warrior against CSK, Shahrukh Khan, did take them to 195, but the Capitals seemed the happy side at the halfway mark, given they restricted the opponents for much lesser than what seemed a given at one stage.

Plenty of dew against a tall batting order is not the best of birthday gifts, but that is what KL Rahul and bowlers were up against as Delhi made an equally quick start. Prithvi Shaw punished Mohammad Shami with a couple of glorious strokes early in his innings, which included a fantastic pick shot that went deep over the long-on fence.

Dhawan’s flourish too good for Kings

He took on Jhye Richardson to signal that something big was on the cards, although his fluent outing was cut short by Arshdeep Singh, who struck in the last over of the powerplay to get him caught. Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan had warmed himself up by picking consecutive fours off Shami’s second over. While Agarwal’s stroke-play was brutal, Dhawan was all about elegance as he started to rebuild alongside Steve Smith, playing his first game in the season.

He punished anything that was even marginally short of a length, while when the bowlers went full, he drove with sheer class. Having brought up his fifty in 10th over, Dhawan mowed Richardson over deep square leg for a maximum to announce his intentions. He scored 38 off the 48 he added alongside Smith, a partnership that was broken by Riley Meredith when the latter top-edged him straight to third-man.

Dhawan accelerated in serious style, smacking Shami for a six before notching up a hat-trick of fours off Meredith in the 13th over. Seeming well on the course of his century, he was cleaned up in an attempt to work Richardson past square leg, as the ball rammed into his stumps. Dhawan fell only eight short of a well-deserved century but he had put his team in the driver’s seat. DC did lose Rishabh Pant towards the end of the innings, although Marcus Stoinis, scoring an unbeaten 27 off just 13, ensured that Dhawan’s toil did not go in vain.

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