IPL 2021: Shikhar Dhawan’s stroke-filled 92 overshadows KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal blitz

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 198 for 4 (Dhawan 92, Shaw 32, Richardson 2-41) beat Punjab Kings 195 for 4 (Agarwal 69, Rahul 61, Meriwala 1-32) by six wickets

A mammoth score of 195 runs posted by Punjab Kings didn’t prove enough for Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal’s contributions were outclassed by Shikhar Dhawan’s heroic as Delhi Capitals earned their second win of the tournament.

Read Here: IPL 2021: Maxwell, AB de Villiers set up RCB win against KKR

Here’s a look at three major talking points of the match:

Shikhar Dhawan’s stroke-filled knock of 92 runs off 49 balls

Shikhar Dhawan has made a lot of improvement in his game for the last two years, especially in T20 cricket. His strike rate hasn’t looked much of a concern. His elegant cover-drives and cuts through the covers aren’t the only shots he plays to score most of his runs. He has added a different dimension to his batting, which has helped him play at a better strike rate.

With the T20 World Cup around the corner, Dhawan is certainly making a case to bring his spot back in the eleven. On Sunday against PBKS, he scored a masterful 92-run knock off 49 balls at a strike rate of 187.76. His knock was laced with 13 fours and 2 sixes. In this particular innings, Dhawan scored 60 runs on the off side out of his score of 92. His pull shots on the on side fetched him 24 runs while shots in the square region of the off side produced 32 runs.

His match-winning knock saw him exploring options to score in different positions. He would walk towards the off-side to play a shot behind square leg. His widened range of shots has helped him play at a better strike rate.

Read Here: IPL 2021: Chahar, Bumrah, Boult stars in Mumbai Indians' 13-Run Win Against SRH

M Shami's 4 overs went for 53 Runs for no wicket

Mohammed Shami would be gutted to have conceded over 13 runs per over in the big chase. The Indian fast bowler leads the pace attack but has failed to make an impact. He was expected to pick early wickets but couldn't do so.

The likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw hit him all around the park. Needing 36 runs in the last four overs, Marcus Stoinis smashed Shami for two fours and a six to seal the game in Delhi’s favour. He kind of lost the touch in the middle and was bowling very predictable lengths. Shami had a forgettable outing, going for 53 runs in his four overs. His spell could be seen as one of the major reasons behind Punjab’s loss. Shami had a poor night, hope he makes a strong comeback next game.

PBKS 20 runs short on a batting paradise at Wankhede

After seeing how the game panned out, one could say that Punjab was 20-30 runs short while setting the target. Questions should also be raised on KL Rahul’s innings as he once again played at a low strike rate amounting to 119.60. The batsmen who followed him didn’t help the cause either as Delhi pulled the game back in the final few overs. The likes of Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran failed to finish the game strongly.

Delhi pulled it back very nicely in the death overs. Shahrukh Khan tried his luck in the last over but, anything below 215+ with the dew around was always going to difficult to defend on this surface.

Questions To Be Answered

Should Hetmyer be brought back into the side?

- Both Ajinkya Rahane and Smith haven’t done justice to their position thus far in the tournament. Poor run from their number three batsman is going to hurt Delhi ahead. Would it be wiser to bring Hetmyer in the eleven and bat Rishabh Pant at number three?

Records Broken

1. Shikhar Dhawan has moved up to the third position on the all-time IPL run-scorers list. He has now 5369 runs to his name.

2. Shikhar Dhawan has now scored the most runs against KXIP in IPL, surpassing Suresh Raina, who has scored 822 runs.

3. KL Rahul has surpassed Yuvraj Singh’s tally of 2750 runs and has now 2804 runs in IPL at 45.22.

Read Here: IPL 2021: Deepak Chahar's 4 for 13 sets up big CSK win against PBKS