MATCH REPORT
Follow UsYou have to feel for Mayank Agarwal! The 30-year-old did what his best friend KL Rahul has been doing for the last few years - lead Punjab Kings and score the majority of the runs - but it was still not enough as Shikhar Dhawan propelled Delhi Capitals to an authoritative seven-wicket win in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 2). With Rahul being out of action for the foreseeable future, Agarwal was appointed as Punjab's skipper. The opener did everything he could in the batting department, but found no support from the other batsmen, something that Rahul was quite used to.
Asked to bat, not a single Punjab batsman apart from Agarwal could make an impression. The captain however crafted his innings perfectly and led PBKS to a competitive total of 166/6 in their 20 overs. The opener smashed eight fours and four maximums in his 58-ball 99* and missed out on a well-deserved century by just one run. In response, Prithvi Shaw (22-ball 39) and Dhawan (47-ball 69) put on 63 runs in just 37 deliveries and pretty much killed the game in the first six overs itself. They chased down the total with 2.2 overs to spare and moved to the top of the points table.
AGARWAL FIGHTS LONE BATTLE
Punjab stuck with Prabhsimran Singh as an opener despite Chris Gayle and debutant Dawid Malan being in the XI. The young wicketkeeper-batsman was troubled by Ishant Sharma in the first over and couldn't score a single run. Prabhsimran finally managed to break the shackles by smoking Ishant over sweeper cover for a six in the third over. Punjab once again got off to a slow start and Prabhsimran (12 off 16) once again failed to make an impression, falling to Kagiso Rabada. Chris Gayle (9-ball 13) once again started on a positive note but before he could do any substantial damage, Rabada knocked him over in the final over of the powerplay. This was the first time Rabada picked up two wickets in the first six overs in IPL.
Agarwal only faced nine deliveries in the powerplay and was forced to rebuild the innings along with Malan. Punjab missed a trick by not opening with either Gayle or Malan and the left-hander from England had to bat at an unusual position - No. 4. Malan and Agarwal put on 52 runs for the third wicket but PBKS were scoring at less than seven till the end of the 13th over. They desperately needed to switch gears but Malan (26-ball 26) failed to convert his sedate start into something substantial and was castled by Axar Patel. Deepak Hooda (1), Shahrukh Khan (4) and Chris Jordan (2) couldn't contribute much and the entire burden fell on the shoulders of Agarwal.
Making a comeback from a hand injury, Agarwal took the attack to Ishant in the 16th over and clobbered him for a four and a six to complete his fifty off 37 deliveries. He then went after Rabada and Axar before smoking Avesh Khan for 23 runs in the final over. PBKS slammed 64 in the last five overs and 52 of those came off Agarwal's bat. He finished off the innings with 4, 6 and 4 but unfortunately couldn't complete his second IPL century. He became only the third batsman to remain unbeaten on 99 in IPL.
THERE'S NO STOPPING DHAWAN, SHAW
Punjab needed early wickets but Shaw and Dhawan didn't let it happen and took the game away from them in the first six overs. Delhi have four of the top-five scores in the powerplay this season and that tells you how dominating Shaw and Dhawan have been at the start of their innings. It was Shaw tonight who scored the majority of the runs in the first six overs and didn't allow any bowler to settle in. Riley Meredith and Mohammed Shami attacked him with short deliveries in the first two overs but Shaw somehow managed to survive.
The flamboyant right-hander got his first six off a top-edge against Shami but slammed him for two more boundaries in the same over to get the ball rolling. The Indian seamer looked way off-colour and leaked 24 runs in his first two overs, with Dhawan too joining the party. Shaw then blasted Ravi Bishnoi and Chris Jordan for a six each and got the required run-rate down to 7.4 at the end of the powerplay. Punjab needed something special to break this partnership and they got it from the man with the golden arm, Harpreet Brar. The left-arm spinner, who dismissed Kohli, Maxwell and ABD in the space of seven deliveries in the previous encounter, got one to turn away a bit from the middle-stump and Shaw ended up playing down the wrong line. The ball turned enough to hit the off-stump.
Shaw couldn't get a big score but he played his part to perfection. And, that's when Dhawan took over and ensured Delhi kept scoring at a good pace. He along with Steve Smith (22-ball 24) batted very smartly against Ravi Bishnoi, Brar and Bishnoi. The two played risk-free cricket and added 48 for the second wicket. Smith fell to Meredith, while Rishabh Pant (11-ball 14) was dismissed by Chris Jordan. Dhawan however carried on and took the attack to Bishnoi just when the situation was starting to get tensed. There were a couple of tidy overs from Hooda and Jordan but Shimron Hetmyer hammered Meredith for two sixes and a four in the 18th over and gave Delhi their sixth win of the season.