Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) by 5 wickets in the 38th match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at Dubai Internatiജonal Stadium on Tuꦜesday.
Chasing 165, Kings started on a bad note as they lost skipper KL Rahul in the third over. Axar Patel dismissed Rahul on 15 runs.
Meanwhile, Chris Gayle (29) took DC pacer Tushar Deshpande on the cleaners by scoring 26 runs from his first over. Gayle was looking set and dangerous before Ravichandran Ashwin cleaned him up with an absolute peach of a delive♏ry.
As if the trouble wasn’t enough for Kings, they lost Mayank Agarwal (5) in a bizarre run-out involving Nicholas Pooran. However, the Caribbean batsman made up for his mistake by scoring 53 off just 28 balls including 6 fours and three sixes.
Pooran and Glenn Maxwell (32) added a crucial 69-run stand for the fourth wicket before Kagiso Rabada sent the left-handed batsman back into the dugout. Rabada didn’t just stop there as he soon dismissed Maxwell as well.
However, it was💙 too late for DC as KXIP chased down the target with one over to spare.
Shikhar Dhawan’s magnificent century takes DC to 164/5
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan scored his second century in IPL 2020. He got to the milestone with a couple in the 19th over bowled by Arshdeep Singh. It was Dhawan’s second consecutive hundred in the tournament. In the previous match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the DC opener had smashed 101 not out. Dhawan also became the first batsman in the history of the IPL to hit back-to-back hundreds.
Multiple 100+ scores in an IPL season:
- 4 – Virat Kohli in 2016 (RCB)
- 2 – Chris Gayle in 2011 (RCB)
- 2 – Hashim Amla in 2017 (KXIP)
- 2 – Shane Watson in 2018 (CSK)
- 2 – Shikhar Dhawan (DC)*
Apart from Dhawan, no other Delhi batsmen contributed good enough to the team’s total as DC could only post 164 on the scoreboard with a loss of five wickets. It ಞwas the lowest first innin🐬gs total in the history of IPL when a player has scored a ton in the game.
Lowest first innings total to contain an individual 100 in IPL:
- 164/5 – S Dhawan 106* (DC v KXIP 2020)
- 170/4 – M Pandey 114* (RCB v Deccan 2009)
- 177/4 – D Warner 107* (DD v KKR 2010)
For KXIP, Mohammad Shami bagged two wickets while Maxwell▨, James Neesham and Murugan Ashwin picked up one scalp each.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
♏And is looking dangerous and making a statement! the game changer ! Beautiful to watch ! What a player !!!
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12)
Wonderful chase by @lionsdenkxip , makes the really interesting! Brilliant knock by for back to back 100's unfortunately in vain! Looks like we are set for a block buster finish for the 4th!
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth)
Some power packed shots played by .
What a clean ☂stri♔ker of the ball he has been. His stance and backlift reminds me of .— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)
Take a bow 🔥🏏
— Ridhima Pathak (@PathakRidhima)
Finally, @lionsdenkxip's overseas batting stars came to the party. Gayle and Pooran made it easy for . 3 consecutive wins against the three best sides of the is not surprising for Punjab if you see how unlucky they were in some matches.
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh)
Beating number 1 and 2 on the points table back to back certainly gives @lionsdenkxip a solid boost ཧas well important points to keep them alive in the Well done
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)
That's that from Match 38, win by 5 wickets with one over to spare.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL)
Shikhar Dhawan 🔥
— betvisa68.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
When adds consistency to his skil💫l, and he is going 🌃to very soon, he is going to light up stadiums around the world.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
Pooran is a madman. In a tournament where teams have been tapping it around for 1s and 2s in the middle overs, here's a guy who attacks like crazy and changes the game in 2 overs.
His performances have been so crucial for KXIP.
— Siddarth Srinivas (@sidhuwrites)
If Pooran becomeꦅs consistent he can become as good as ABD said Clive Lloyd. We know why: superb talent and what range of shots. Just if he keeps calm and gets the consistency!
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar)
THIS WIN DESERVES TO BE TWEETED IN 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒! 😎 ꧙
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL)
Po👍oran is doing what very few teams attempt to do in middle overs.
Kill the game. Make it easier for the ones to follow. And he's not swinging at every ball. Calculated batting, going after the bad balls.
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS)
You go Shikhar Dhawan. Historic batting, simply supe𒐪rb🤸🏿👀👀👀👀🔥🔥.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi)
Pooran – We closed down the game without going into last over.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns)
//twitter.com/AdamD𒁃hꦏoni1/status/1318608090611109888
Pooran entered in the 6th over. Got out in the 13th over. Scored 53 off 28. Six fours, three sixes. A lesson on how to approach the midd💙le overs in a T20. By the time he 💯was out, they needed 5 an over. Brilliant.
— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee)
