In the 38th match of the IPL 2020, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) claimed their third successive victory after beating the table leader Delhi Capitals (DC) by five wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (Dubai).
Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and decided to bat first. Opener Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten century knock helped Delhi Capitals to score 164/5 (20 overs). In reply, KXIP chased down that target successfully in 19 overs after losing five wickets.
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IPL 2020, Match 38: Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Capitals (KXIP vs DC) – Highlights
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) innings
KXIP didn’t get a good start as their first three batsmen lost their wickets inside the powerplay. At first, in the third over of that innings, Axar Patel dismissed the Orange Cap holder KXIP skipper and opener KL Rahul for 15 runs.
In the 6th over, Ravichandran Ashwin bowled dangerous-looking Chris Gayle for 29 runs off 13 balls (3 fours and 2 sixes). In that same over, another opener Mayank Agarwal was run out after scoring just 5 runs. At the end of the 6 overs, KXIP scored 57/3.
But then Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell handled the pressure and controlled that innings. Pooran dominated in that 69 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. In the 13th over, Pooran reached his fifty in 27 balls with a four. But on the next ball, he was caught behind as Kagiso Rabada continued his wicket-taking moment in IPL career. Pooran scored 53 runs off 28 balls (6 fours and 3 sixes) before getting out.
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Maxwell also scored crucial 32 runs off 24 balls (3 fours) before he was dismissed by Rabada after the wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant grabbed a good running catch.
Though Deepak Hooda and James Neesham struggled a little bit, they ultimately ensured KXIP’s crucial victory. While Hooda scored 15 not out off 22 balls, Neesham scored 10 not out off 8 balls.
Scorecard:
Delhi Capitals (DC) innings
Opener Shikhar Dhawan played the major role for Delhi Capitals in that entire first innings as the centurion was the only batsman in that innings to score more than 15 runs.
Dhawan’s opening partner Prithvi Shaw was dismissed by James Neesham for just 7 runs. Then Dhawan put the 48 runs partnership with the skipper Shreyas Iyer for the second wicket, where Iyer scored 14 runs before Murugan Ashwin dismissed him. His dismissal happened after Dhawan completed his fourth successive fifty in 28 balls.
Dhawan continued his impressive batting while Rishabh Pant and Marcus Stoinis scored 14 and 9 runs respectively. The left-handed opening batsman Dhawan, who scored the match-winning 101 not out in their previous match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Sharjah (17th October 2020), completed his second consecutive century in 57 balls.
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On the final ball of that innings, Shimron Hetmyer lost his wicket after scoring 10 runs. Dhawan remained not out on 106 runs off 61 balls (12 fours and 3 sixes).
Though the KXIP bowlers failed to dismiss Dhawan, they were in very control with the ball in hand. Among the KXIP bowlers, only the right-arm pacer Mohammed Shami managed to pick up more than one wicket as he had the bowling figures of 4-0-28-2.
Scorecard:
IPL 2020, Match 38: Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Capitals (KXIP vs DC) – Twitter Reactions
