Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) celebrated their third straight win in Dubai on Tuesday after beating Delhi Matchs (DC) by five goals in Match 38 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
KXIP v DC | IPL 2020 Match 38 Highlights
It took KXIP 165 runs to win and lost their first wicket in the third game when KL Rahul pulled out for 15 in the third game before Axar Patel’s bowling.
While DC kept things tight with KXIP unable to score more than 24 points in the first four overs, Chris Gayle opened his shoulders and pounded three fours and two sixes in the fifth over, bowled by Tushar Deshpande to bring KXIP to fifty bring.
DC introduced R Ashwin to the attack in the final of the power play and the train worked immediately when he got Gayle out for 29. DC struck for the second time in the over when Mayank Agarwal was out of the race after being mistaken for Nicholas Pooran.
KXIP could have lost another wicket to a run-out in Ashwin’s next round when Pooran and Glenn Maxwell were involved in a mix-up, but Maxwell survived. Pooran then creamed a six and followed it with two fours – first from an inside edge and then via a strong pull – in the ninth.
KXIP went over 100 in game 10 when Pooran continued his great successes targeting Marcus Stoinis and hitting a four and a six.
The Pooran-Maxwell duo ended their 50-year partnership in the 11th year. A few overs later, Pooran brought up his half-century but got out in the same over after taking one to Rishabh Pant from Kagiso Rabadas bowling.
With 18 needed 26 balls, KXIP lost Maxwell after Pant made a good run when Rabada picked his second wicket of the game.
While Deepak Hooda took a break in the penultimate game, Jimmy Neesham hit a six in the same game and ensured that KXIP scored a win with an over.
DC had previously made three changes to their XI game when Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer returned to the team while Daniel Sams made his IPL debut. In the meantime, KXIP brought Jimmy Neesham onto the team.
Shikhar Dhawan started where he left the previous game and hit a four and a six in the first game to get the ball rolling for DC. KXIP, despite scalping their first wicket after Jimmy Neesham took Prithvi Shaw out for 7 in the fourth game.
However, courtesy of DC continued to score a swift goal. The left-handed player hit a six in the fourth game and fours in the next three before overtaking DC after fifty in the Powerplay final.
In the ninth game, Dhawan went over his fourth consecutive result of more than fifty points in the tournament. However, DC lost Shreyas Iyer in the same game after KL Rahul made a good catch on the leg side in front of Murugan Ashwin.
At halftime, DC was 83/2, Dhawan hit 56 and Rishabh Pant hit 4. Three overs later, DC moved past 100 when Dhawan became the fifth player in the tournament’s history to run 5,000.
Glenn Maxwell helped KXIP pick their third wicket after overtaking Pant on the 14th.
In the meantime, Dhawan continued his merry ways with the bat when the left-hander moved in in the 17th into the 1990s. DC lost to Marcus Stoinis in the next game to Mohammad Shami’s bowling.
For the next period Dhawan made history when he became the first batsman to score two consecutive IPL hundreds. The left-hander, who scored a ton in DC’s last game against Chennai Super Kings, brought up his hundred in 57 balls.
DC eventually bet 164/5 on the board, with Dhawan scoring 106 of 61 balls undefeated, hitting 12 fours and 3 sixes.