IPL 2020, KXIP vs DC: Shikhar Dhawan's undefeated ton fades as KXIP beat DC by 5 wickets
In the 38th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by 5 wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell's incredible partnership helped KXIP chase down the target of 165 runs given by the DC at the end of the 19th over itself. Aided by Shikhar Dhawan's explosive innings of undefeated 106 runs off 61 balls, DC gave a decent target of 165 runs for the KXIP to chase tonight. Mohammed Shami shined today for the KXIP, with him grabbing 2 wickets tonight. Even with their loss tonight, Delhi Capitals continues to rule the points table from the top position of the 13th edition of IPL. Kings XI Punjab, on the other hand, has improved their points tally as they now stand at the 5th position in the points table of IPL 2020.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first. Delhi Capitals had a rough start with the early wicket of opener Prithvi Shaw's tonight. However, the other opener Shikhar Dhawan remained the solo match performer for the DC with his explosive yet undefeated knock of 106 runs off 61 balls aided by 3 sixes and 12 fours tonight. Skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant failed to impress tonight with them losing their wickets after making 14 runs each. Marcus Stoinis also took an early departure as he lost his wicket after making only 9 runs tonight. Shimron Hetmyer lost his wicket after making 10 runs off 6 balls. Shikhar Dhawan's undefeated ton allowed DC to set a decent target of 165 runs for the KXIP to chase tonight. Mohammed Shami remained the most economical bowler in his spell of 4 overs for the KXIP, while also grabbing 2 wickets tonight.
Kings XI had a bad start tonight with them losing crucial wickets of Skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in the early. While the skipper played an innings of 15 runs off 11 balls, Agarwal lost his wicket after making only 5 runs tonight. Chris Gayle tried to give a quick push to the KXIP's run rate with his fiery innings of 29 runs off 13 balls aided by 3 sixes and 2 fours. Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell played a crucial partnership for the KXIP tonight. While Pooran played explosively with his brilliant knock of 53 runs off 28 balls aided by 3 sixes and 6 fours, Maxwell scored 32 runs off 24 balls tonight. After the fall of Pooran's wicket, Deepak Hooda came to the crease to support Maxwell with his undefeated knock of 15 runs off 22 balls tonight. James Neesham's undefeated 10 runs knock aided by a match-finishing sixer allowed KXIP to successfully chase down the target given by DC to chase tonight at the end of the 19th over. Kagiso Rabada grabbed 2 crucial wickets for the DC tonight in his spell of 4 overs. Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed a wicket each while also maintaining an economy rate of 6.75.
