Delhi Capitals (DC) hammered Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to win Match 25 of the ongoing IPL 2021 by seven wickets on Thursday at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
Put to bat first, KKR put up a decent 154/6 in their allotted twenty overs. However, given the imperious form of DC’s batters, the Rishabh Pant-led side chased the target within 17 overs.
Leading the chase, DC’s opener Prithvi Shaw produced fireworks in the stadium with his onslaught of the strike bowler Shivam Mavi in the very first over. Shaw hit Mavi for six boundaries in his six legal deliveries, thus becoming the second Indian batsman after Ajinkya Rahane to do so in the history of IPL.
Talking about the same in an interview with Cricbuzz, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was particularly impressed with Shaw and revealed that he too had the intent of hitting six boundaries off the first over but could never achieve the feat.
“Smashing six boundaries off all the six balls means playing every ball through the perfect gap, which is not easy. I’ve opened in my career and had thought of smashing all the six balls so many times. But I got a maximum of 18 or 20 odd runs. I couldn’t hit six boundaries or six sixes. For that you need to be perfect on your timing so that you can find those gaps,” Sehwag said.
Sehwag also attributed Shaw’s blistering exploits to the fact that the youngster had already played Mavi in Under-19 tournaments. But, comparing himself with Shaw, the maestro quickly admitted that though he, too, had played Ashish Nehra innumerable times, but had failed to manage a similar achievement.
“Prithvi Shaw was excellent with the bat. He didn’t look as if he has come to play a cricket match. Or maybe he had the confidence of playing with Shivam Mavi in the U-19 team that he knew where the bowler would bowl exactly. I have batted against Ashish Nehra so many times in nets, domestic games but would never be able to hit him for six boundaries in an over. Hats off to Prithvi Shaw for his fantastic innings,” the 42-year-old added.
The cricketer-turned-commentator also regretted that Shaw couldn’t reach his hundred, which would have been exciting for the fans and fraternity alike.
“It would have been more exciting if he had got a hundred. He has gone through tough times already. But now, when the runs were coming, he must have scored a hundred or remained unbeaten and finished the chase,” Sehwag concluded.
Shaw reached the fastest half-century of the ongoing IPL in only 18 balls. He went to make a towering 41-ball 82 at a strike rate of 200 before being dismissed by Pat Cummins.
With this win, DC have occupied the second spot in the points table.
