Delhi Capitals bagged their sixth victory of the Indian Premier League 2021 after thumping Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium by seven wickets.
Punjab were outplayed in all departments.
First, they failed to put enough runs on the board, then leaked runs with toothless bowling.
The 167-run chase never troubled Delhi Capitals on the batting track of Ahmedabad.
They completed the chase with 14 balls in hand to go top of the points table with 12 points in hand.
But it seems harsh to scrutinize the Kings, considering that they were playing without their best batsman and captain KL Rahul.
The skipper was hospitalised hours before the game due to acute appendicitis.
Agarwal takes charge
Mayank Agarwal played a true captain’s knock that won him the Player Of The Match award.
The 30-year-old’s unbeaten 99* kept the Delhi Capitals on their toes, however, lack of support had them end the innings on 166/6.
This Agarwal’s second fifty of the season.
He is Punjab’s second-highest run-scorer with 260 runs, just behind Rahul (331 runs).
Shaw and Dhawan continue to fire
Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw have been the backbone of Delhi’s batting.
They’ve been consistently laying a solid foundation for the middle order as openers.
Their mixture of youth and experience piled up quick runs in the power play to lower Punjab heads early.
Dhawan hit his third half-century of the season to retain the Orange Cap once again.
His 69 not out has propelled him to 380 runs so far.Â
Delhi Capitals 167 for 3 (Dhawan 69*, Shaw 39) beat Punjab Kings 166 for 6 (Agarwal 99, Rabada 3-36) by seven wickets.
Preview: Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Royal Challengers
Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Kolkata Knight Riders for the second time in the Indian Premier League 2021 at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
Probable best performer
AB de Villiers
Former South African captain AB de Villiers is in great touch for a guy who hasn’t played professional cricket in the last six months.
He has already hit two fifties this IPL and scored over 200 runs.
He has been RCB’s most valuable asset in the death overs.
This makes him a probable key performer for Bangalore for the Monday game.
He also bagged the Man of the Match award in the last clash against KKR for his 34-ball 76.
He hammered the Kolkata bowlers all over the park, finishing not out with the strike rate of 233.
Match prediction
After a dream start to IPL 2021, Bangalore have got two losses on their record.
But that wouldn’t bother captain Virat Kohli as the side has already bagged 10 points.
They are ranked third in the table and hold the advantage over a lop-sided Kolkata.
KKR have struggled in their batting and that has been their major flaw this year.
Eoin Morgan hasn’t made bold decisions despite fetching only two wins in seven games.
They lost the last game against RCB by 38 runs in Chennai.
Hence, Bangalore are firm favourites to thrash KKR on Monday night.