End of an Amazing Inning by Shikhar Dhawan !! Well Played Gabbar Clapping hands...

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.

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.