Former Indian cricketer, Aakash Chopra has applauded Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper, Shikhar Dhawan for his ‘lone warrior’ knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), while in the match SRH beat PBKS by eight wickets.
Whereas after the game, Dhawan was awarded Player of the Match for his 99*(66) to take his side post a total of 143/9, now PBKS has won one game and lost one this season.
Aakash Chopra reckons Shikhar Dhawan solely took his side to a respectable target-
“Punjab were unbeaten heading into this game but Hyderabad’s sun has finally risen. Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bowl. There Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Prabhsimran Singh off the very first delivery.
“Then Marco Jansen sent back Matthew Short and Jitesh Sharma. The wickets were tumbling one after the other but Shikhar Dhawan batted absolutely fearlessly. He remained unbeaten on 99. Shikhi is in a different space and would say that it doesn’t matter that he missed a century,” said the Ex-Indian Test opener.
Shikhar Dhawan – 99*(66)
Extras – 6
Rest of the PBKS – 38(54)Dhawan & Rathee added 55* runs for the 10th wicket with Rathee scoring 1 run.
An all-time Great IPL innings. pic.twitter.com/WWMiovRJn2
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 9, 2023
SRH broke their two games losing streak with the win in the last match, earlier they won the toss and opted to bowl, and veteran Indian pacer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the wicket of opposition opener Prabhsimran Singh on the very first ball of the innings, while from the other end, other batters were getting dismissed, but Dhawan who came as an opener, stood throughout and hit the last ball of innings for a six to post 143/9 at the end of 20 overs, in his knock the left-handed batter smashed five sixes and 12 boundaries.
“One player scored 99 runs off 66 balls and the rest of the team lost their wickets in nine overs. There was a 55-run partnership for the last wicket where Shikhar Dhawan scored almost all the runs. Shikhar Dhawan’s knock will go into the annals of this tournament’s history,” he further added.
While in the chase former champions, lost both their openers under 10 overs for 45-2, but later Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram took their side to a victory with undefeated 74 and 37 runs respectively.
“They got Harry Brook to open. He is struggling against spin but he got out to Arshdeep Singh. Then Mayank Agarwal was also dismissed, who falls prey to Rahul Chahar but no wicket fell after that. Rahul Tripathi played extremely well and in a classical fashion. He stayed till the end and Aiden Markram was there alongside him,” concluded cricketer cum commentator.
While, for the 2nd home game of the season in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, PBKS will take on Gujarat Titans (GT) in Mohali on April 13.