The Indian Premier League 2021 is the 14th edition of the country's gainful Twenty leagues. Both Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals have failed to win the IPL title to date, while they have finished as runners-up before. Meanwhile, both are currently fighting out.
Delhi Capitals came up with a flawless batting display to cruise past Punjab Kings by seven wickets in Match 29 of the 2021 Indian Premier League at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. While PBKS skipper Mayank Agarawal played an exquisite innings of an unbeaten 99, DC opener Shikhar Dhawan overpowered it with his impeccable unbeaten 69.
Winning the toss, DC skipper Rishabh Pant elected to bowl first, as he moved in with an unchanged XI. Meanwhile, PBKS sent in Mayank Agarwal as the skipper, with KL Rahul being ruled out due to acute appendicitis. In the other change, Dawid Malan replaced Nicholas Pooran.
PBKS was off to a tense start, losing a couple of wickets within the powerplay, as pacer Kagiso Rabada got rid of Prabhsimran Singh (12) and Chris Gayle (13), while the score at the end of the sixth over read 39/2. Meanwhile, Mayank and Malan's pair contributed to a 52-run stand for the third wicket before the latter fell for 26 in the 14th over after spinner Axar Patel bowled him over, followed by Deepak Hooda (1), just a run later, in the same over.
LIVE SCORECARD: IPL 2021, Match 29: Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals (PBKS vs DC)
As all-rounder Shahrukh Khan came in, Mayank upped his ante and contributed to a 41-run stand for the fifth, while the skipper brought up his ninth IPL half-century in the process. In the 18th over, at 129, Shahrukh fell for just four to pacer Avesh Khan.
While Chris Jordan (2) departed 14 runs later in the 19th over to Rabada, Mayank looked to be on a mission in the final over off Avesh. However, he could finish on 99, as PBKS handed a target of 167 to DC.
For DC, six bowlers were put into the attack. While Rabada got the most success, Axar was heavily economical of the lot.
As DC came out for the chase, it is off to a good start, with openers Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw contributing 63 runs. In the seventh over, Shaw was the first to depart for 34 after spinner Harpreet Brar knocked him over off his first ball of the game.
The pair of Dhawan and Steven Smith contributed 48 runs for the second wicket before the latter fell for 24 to pacer Riley Meredith in the 13th over. In came Pant, as Dhawan slammed his 44th IPL half-century.
However, after a 36-run stand, pacer Chris Jordan got rid of the skipper for 14 in the 17th over. Nevertheless, Dhawan and Shimron Hetmyer's pair got the job done by seven wickets within the 18th over.
As for PBKS, it too utilised six bowlers. While three bowlers got success, spinner Deepak Hooda was the most economical.
Brief scores: PBKS 166/6 (Mayank- 99*; Rabada- 3/36) beats DC 167/3 in 18.4 overs (Shaw- 39, Dhawan- 69*; Brar- 1/19) by seven wickets.
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