Dhawan's highest IPL score gives DC an easy win

Shikhar Dhawan returned to good form as his brilliant 87 has guided Delhi Capitals (DC) to a 7-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens. This is the first time DC have won at Kolkata since 2012. Also, with this win, they have completed a double over KKR, after winning the previous match in the season in a super over. Dhawan did have a lucky break when he was not given out after replays showed that he had edged the ball off Prasidh Krishna early in the innings. Despite KKR taking the DRS, the third umpire did not find any conclusive evidence to overturn the decision. Dhawan rode on his luck and along with Rishabh Pant (46) stitched a match-winning 105-run stand for the third wicket. However, Colin Ingram denied Dhawan an opportunity to get his century, smashing a six when his team needed 5 to win, while Dhawan remained stranded on 97. 

Prithvi Shaw (14) and Shreyas Iyer (6) were dismissed inside the powerplays, but Dhawan and Pant played sensibly through their innings and ensured that the hosts do not walk away with a win. With this win, DC move into the top 4 with 4 wins from 7 matches, while KKR are still in a good position to make it to the playoffs, having collected 8 points from their 7 matches. With KKR’s main spinners Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav not picking up a single wicket, it was always going to be a tough ask for KKR. The DC batsmen played them out sensibly and put away the other bad deliveries. KKR could have taken it close had they had a bit of luck, but they will now have to turn their attention to the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who visit their shores on Sunday.

It was Ishant Sharma who started off the match in fine fashion, clearing up debutant Joe Denly for a golden duck in his very first IPL match. From there Shubman Gill, who opened the batting, and Robin Uthappa steadied the ship with a 63-run stand. Gill went on to score his second IPL fifty and was eventually dismissed for a well-made 39-ball 65. Andre Russell, who has been nursing a wrist injury stole the show from there, smashing 45 off 21, before he was dismissed by Chris Morris in the penultimate over. KKR still had a par score on the board, but it was their bowlers who let them down today.

Momentum shift

After Robin Uthappa was dismissed in the 9th over, KKR’s win% dropped by 13, which was their biggest dip in the entire match. But after they scored 16 runs off the 18th over, courtesy of Andre Russell, thei win% at that point was 73%.

After Shaw and Iyer were dismissed inside the powerplays, DC’s win% took a major dip (13%), which was the most in the entire innings. However, 14 runs off the 17th over, took DC’s win% up by 15 and was at 88%. Despite losing Pant’s wicket after that, they secured an easy win in the end.

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