Finally, Kings XI Punjab is getting their groove in the tournament. After six straight losses, they now registered their third consecutive win. They scored 167/5 in 19 overs and got a five-wicket victory against Delhi Capitals. It was Nicholas Pooran (53), Glenn Maxwell (32) and Chris Gayle (29) who played a major part in Punjab’s win. For Delhi, Shikhar Dhawan (106*) scored an unbeaten century. But it didn’t help his team to get a victory. With this win, Punjab is still in the race of playoffs.
Delhi Capitals’ captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first. Once again, opener Prithvi Shaw got out cheaply inside the powerplay. Then, Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer settled the innings for their team. After their 48 runs partnership, Iyer got dismissed. After that, Rishab Pant gave support to Dhawan for a while. When Pant got out, Stoinis and Hetmyer made brief partnerships with Dhawan. While the other batsmen struggled to score, Dhawan had hit shots with ease and completed his second consecutive century of this season. His contribution helped Delhi to score 164/5 in 20 overs.
Punjab got an early blow while chasing this total as star batsman KL Rahul got out in the third over. Chris Gayle came and played a quickfire inning. When he was looking dangerous, Ashwin dismissed him in the sixth over. In the very same over, even Mayank Agarwal got run out. When they were in trouble, Nicholas Pooran played a blistering game and brought down the required run rate. His half-century helped Punjab to be in a safe zone. When he was looking deadly, Rabada dismissed him. The very same Rabada got the wicket of Glenn Maxwell in the 16th over. Then, Deepak Hooda and Jimmy Neesham played carefully till the end and got a win for Punjab.
Scorecard:
Delhi Capitals: 164/5 (S Dhawan 106*, S Iyer 14, M Shami 2/28)
Kings XI Punjab: 167/5 (N Pooran 53, G Maxwell 32, K Rabada 2/27)