Delhi Capitals (DC) suffered a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Tuesday in Dubai. Despite southpaw Shikhar Dhawan’s rip-roaring 104* in just 61 deliveries, the Shreyas Iyer-captained franchise posted 164 runs in 20 overs that was eventually chased by the opposition in a comfortable fashion.
A scintillating knock from Chris Gayle (29, 13b) with 26 runs coming off pacer Tushar Deshpande’s first over was followed by an even enthralling exhibition from Nicholas Pooran (53, 28b) who scored the bulk of runs for the Kings XI.
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Pooran along with Glenn Maxwell (32, 24b) scripted a 49-run stand for the fourth-wicket to lead their side closer to the victory.
However, it was the duo of Deepak Hooda (15*) and James Neesham (10*) that finished the innings for KL Rahul & Co.
Speaking on the loss, Iyer said there were a few positives from the match, for instance, Dhawan’s fiery batting at the top. He also mentioned how pacer Tushar Deshpande, who conceded 41 runs in 2 overs, could learn from this outing and come back stronger in the upcoming matches.
“I feel that we fell around 10 short runs, but we got a lot of learnings from this game. Shikhar’s batting was a positive. Tushar leaked runs but that happens to the best of us. I am sure he will come back,” Iyer said in the post-match presentation.
Shikhar read the wicket well: Shreyas Iyer
Other than Shikhar Dhawan, who notched a blistering 106* at a strike rate of over 170, with 3 sixes and 12 fours, none of the batters could get past the 15-run mark in individual tallies. Dhawan scored over sixty percent of the team’s run and was clearly the most dominant batsman in the DC tent while others found it difficult to settle and get the runs roaring.
The top and middle-order comprising Prithvi Shaw (7), Rishabh Pant (14), Marcus Stoinis (9), and skipper Iyer (14) himself, couldn’t reap many benefits from the wicket that was offered.
Iyer highlighted that Dhawan read the conditions quickly and went berserk from the very delivery.
“Shikhar read the wicket well and adapted to the situation. He went hard from ball 1 and passed the message onto youngsters that the wicket is stopping. He acclimatized to the conditions quicker than others.”
DC is among the hot favorites for IPL 2020 underway in UAE and has got all areas covered to get their maiden IPL trophy. They have lost just three so far, with the defeats coming at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, and Kings XI Punjab.
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In the points table, Delhi Capitals are still atop with 7 wins in 10 matches, 14 points, and an NRR of +0.774.
When asked about the loss at this stage of the contest and the team’s approach for the coming matches, Iyer felt that the team lacked in some areas and would be pumped up for the remaining duels.
“The good thing is that the boys will be charged up for the next game. We weren’t up to the mark, but I’m sure we will be next time,” said Iyer.
Delhi Capitals will be facing Eoin Morgan-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the first match of the double-header on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
 on Tuesday in the 38th match of IPL 2020.){kind=link}