Riding on a sensational knock from Shikhar Dhawan, the Delhi Capitals never felt threatened by the big total and made light work of the target of 196 runs to stroll home by 6 wickets with as many as 10 deliveries to spare. The win was a sort of coming back after an excruciating loss in the last game against the Rajasthan Royals.
The target could well have been a tricky task but the pitches at the Wankhede Stadium have produced big batting efforts and hence there was no let-up from the star-studded Capitals batting line up.
Prithvi Shaw was back to his dominating best after a failure in the last game and got his team off to a flying start in the powerplay. His domination set the tone for the rest of the innings and when the right-hander departed, his partner Shikhar Dhawan then took the onus on himself to lead his team to a position of real strength.
Dhawan was quite exceptional in his strokeplay and never allowed the Punjab Kings bowlers to get back in the game by finding boundaries on a consistent basis. The southpaw flayed his way to a 91 before perishing on a brilliant Jhye Richardson slower delivery.
However, by then, the job was almost done and despite his dismissal, the Punjab Kings didn’t manage to sneak through.
A horrible 17th over by Mohammed Shami totally tilted the scales in favour of the Capitals and there was no way back from there. Marcus Stoinis justified his position as a finisher and blazed his way to 27 of 12 deliveries. Some of them were freebies, but still, you have to be at your best in mind to execute big shots in crunch situations of a game. Eventually, a boundary from Lalit Yadav finished off proceedings with 10 deliveries left.
Earlier in the day, it was Rishabh Pant who won the toss and opted to field. Punjab Kings blazed away to a rollicking start courtesy of a sublime opening stand between Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul. Mayank Agarwal smashed his way to a breezy knock of 69 which came in just 36 deliveries.
However his partner KL Rahul wasn’t at his fluent best and his strike-rate concerns from the previous seasons still lingered. He scored 61 of 51 deliveries in hope of turning the tide in the last overs. However, he could not finish strong and departed just when his team needed him the most. Run scoring is important but the impact is more important and KL Rahul should look to find a way to get it right.
Deepak Hooda smashed a few lusty blows towards the end and eventually the designated finisher, Shahrukh Khan did finish well as he remained unbeaten on 15 of just 5 deliveries. However, a substantial score of 195 didn’t prove to be enough in the end.
Captain’s Viewpoints
Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul, the birthday boy was disappointed that he couldn’t get a victory on his birthday. However, he sounded optimistic with the fact that there are several games left and they can still make a comeback. He felt that a score of 180-190 would have been a difficult one to chase down but he lamented the fact that Dhawan made full use of the dew which backtracked the Punjab Kings bowlers.
“Victory would've been sweet on my birthday. Slightly disappointing but we've still got a lot of games left. In the end, when you look at it, it does look 10-15 short. But I felt batting in the middle 196 was really good.
In the first half, Mayank and I were saying the same, that we'd be good if we got 180-190. But obviously, at Wankhede, there's dew and credit to Dhawan. Dew did sway things, bowling second's always a challenge at Wankhede,” Rahul said.
However, he said that the team prepares for such a situation but it really gets difficult against a quality batting line-up.
“It does get difficult against these quality batters. I'm not saying that because I'm on the losing side. Bowlers try to bowl with the wet ball, but it's always difficult to do that. I asked the umpires to change the ball a couple of times (as it was wet), but the rule book doesn't allow that,” Rahul added.
Meanwhile DC captain Rishabh Pant sounded confident after the victory and said that he has already started enjoying the captaincy tenure despite being under pressure for some part of the game.
“I've already started enjoying the captaincy but we were under pressure at the start because the wicket was not doing much and they had a good start. Good job by our bowlers to keep them to 190,” Pant said.
Pant also lauded the efforts of Shikhar Dhawan who has been an integral part of the DC outfit in the last few years. He was stunning at UAE and he is continuing his rich vein of form in IPL even this year.
“There are many things you can talk to with Shikhar but at the end of the day what he's given to the team is commendable. I like to keep the environment light so that people enjoy their cricket and make the most of their opportunities,” Pant added.
Experts Viewpoints
Regarded as the Voice of Cricket, Harsha Bhogle was delighted to see Shikhar Dhawan take his game to a whole new level. The southpaw never bludgeoned his way to a 91 but played proper cricketing shots maintaining a wonderful strike rate.
He also added that the Punjab Kings have to find ways to defend big totals.
Referring to the match against Rajasthan Royals where they sneaked through in the last ball-thriller, Bhogle said that the dew was not the only factor that resulted in the Punjab Kings going down yet again.
Renowned journalist Sambit Bal had predicted at the halfway mark that Punjab could be short of a match-winning total and it turned out exactly like that.
Ben Jones, who has emerged as one of the finest brains in the modern-day game where data plays a crucial role argued that KL Rahul’s approach is just not working for his team and he needs to change his tactics in the upcoming games.
Staying true to his data game, Jones backed his argument with a set of data and said that six of Rahul’s last 15 fifty-plus scores in the IPL have had a negative impact on the result.
Cricketer turned analyst Aakash Chopra felt that Moises Henriques can be picked for future games in place of Riley Meredith if these out and out fast bowlers cannot get their team through in high scoring clashes. The Punjab Kings spend hefty sums to buy both Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson and they have not lived up to their reputation.
Chopra also lauded Shikhar Dhawan for reinventing his T20 game in the back end of his career. He also signified the fact that learning never stops at any level.
Chopra also hailed Mayank Agarwal for his whirlwind knock and said that he will be the first man a captain will want in the team.
The Delhi Capitals will be delighted to get back to the winning ways after losing a game they should have won against the Rajasthan Royals. More than the win, the Rishabh Pant-Ricky Ponting led think tank would be pleased with the manner of their chase of a target.
On the other hand, the Punjab Kings need to find a balanced playing XI that can produce a clinical team performance.
They have produced two outstanding performances with the bat where they were let down by their bowlers while the batsmen failed miserably on the remaining one matches and the bowler showed promise.
Now, KL Rahul and Anil Kumble need to find a balanced team to avert these contrasting performances in two consecutive matches and bring consistency in performances and accountability in players.