Dhawan's ton in vain as KXIP beat Delhi by 5 wickets

Dubai, October 20, 2020

A resurgent Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by five wickets to record their third consecutive win of the season and fourth overall in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here today.

KXIP chased down a target of 165 with an over to spare with Nicholas Pooran being their highest scorer with 53 off 28 balls. Pooran smashed six fours and three sixes in his innings.

KXIP struggled to keep their wickets for much of the innings before Pooran took off and had a 69-run partnership with Glenn Maxwell for the fourth wicket. Pooran did most of the striking in the partnership. James Neesham, brought in place of Chris Jordan, took KXIP over the line with a six off the last ball of the 19th over.

DC required Shikhar Dhawan's individual brilliance to get to 164/5 wickets with the 34-year-old opener scoring an unbeaten 106 off 61 balls. The second highest score after Dhawan's effort for DC was 14 scored by Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.

Dhawan is the first player in IPL history to score back-to-back centuries.

The left-hander, however, hardly got any support from the rest of his team mates, who combined to score 54 runs off 59 balls.

Pacer Mohammed Shami was the star of what was an economical bowling effort from KXIP. He took two wickets and conceded 28 runs in his four overs.

James Neesham, brought in for Chris Jordan, provided the breakthrough with the wicket of the out-of-form Prithvi Shaw. Murugan Ashwin dismissed Iyer while Pant fell to Glenn Maxwell.

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals: 164/5 wkts in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 106 not out, Shreyas Iyer 12; Mohammed Shami 2/28) lost to KXIP: 167/5 wkts (Nicholas Pooran 53, Glenn Maxwell 32, Kagiso Rabada 2/27) by five wickets

IANS