Delhi Capitals (DC) clinically beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by seven wickets in Match 29 of IPL 2021 played at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
Put in to bat first, PBKS mustered a decent 166/6 on board at the end of their twenty overs supported by the late fireworks of their new skipper Mayank Agarwal who smashed an unbeaten 99 off 58 balls.
In response, Rishabh Pant and Co. got off to a good start. Their openers looked in pristine form as Prithvi Shaw began his onslaught from one end, scoring a quickfire 22-balls 39, while Shikhar Dhawan played the anchor role smashing an unflappable 69 off 47 balls. Dhawan paced his innings well and made sure that he guided his side over the finish line.
With this inning, the veteran opener surpassed PBKS’s KL Rahul, as the highest scorer of IPL 2021 so far, to get back the ‘Orange Cap’. Dhawan has garnered 380 runs at a tremendous average of 54.28 from just eight matches.
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar heaped praises on the Delhi-born cricketer and admired him for his lack of complacency.
“He has been in a tremendous right from the start of the season. He is carrying his form and he is not taking it easy at all. Sometimes, batsmen tend to take the good form for granted, get into bad habits. But he hasn’t got into any,” said Gavaskar while speaking to Star Sports.
The cricketer-turned-commentator further added that though Dhawan hadn’t tried anything unusual, yet his familiar shots helped the ‘Orange Cap holder’ amass runs.
“Look at some of his shots. These are the shot which has always got runs. He hasn’t tried to do anything different. These are the shots that he plays in all forms of the games, in the longer formats as well. And they are paying for him and he is looking like a million bucks,” the 71-year-old asserted.
Gavaskar applauded the 35-year-old one more time, pointing out that the latter made sure he batted till the end to help his team win the match.
“It’s so important. At the end of the day, a lot of times a set batsman gets out on the 15th or the 16th over and a new batsman has to come in and he doesn’t find it easy. The asking rate might be pretty much run-a-ball at that stage but even a new batsman coming in can find it difficult. So, if you are well set and you want to go, and finish it. And that’s what Shikhar Dhawan did,” the maestro concluded.
With this win, DC are placed on the top of the IPL 2021 points-table and have 12 points in their kitty.
