IPL 2021: PBKS vs DC Review – Delhi pocket the North Indian derby once again

Delhi Capitals’ march towards their dream of the maiden IPL title continued as they defeated Punjab Kings for the second time in the 2021 season. On the back of a good bowling effort coupled with some expert batting, Delhi defeated Punjab Kings by seven wickets. Earlier in the day, Punjab Kings suffered a big blow when their captain KL Rahul was admitted to a hospital and reported to have acute appendicitis.

Rishabh Pant, the Delhi captain won the toss and elected to bat first. Kagiso Rabada struck early as Punjab lost two wickets in the powerplay. Mayank Agarwal, the stand-in skipper of Punjab started building a partnership with Dawid Malan. When the left-handed batsmen fell for 26 runs, wickets started to fall regularly.

Agarwal held one end before taking on the bowlers towards the death overs. He ended with an unbeaten 99, making sure that his team finished with a competitive total of 166 for 6. But, Delhi batsmen made the score look easily chasable. Prithvi Shaw started the innings with another quickfire knock, scoring 39 runs from 22 balls.

After he got out, it was Shikhar Dhawan, who continued his good form scoring another fifty. He got some support from Steve Smith, who made 24 runs while Pant scored 14 runs. Shimron Hetymer played a cameo of 16 runs from four balls, finishing the run chase in 17.4 overs. Dhawan stayed unbeaten on 69 runs from 47 balls as Delhi won by their sixth game in the season.

Top performers:

Kagiso Rabada: The South African had a slightly off day in the previous match, but came back strong with a match-winning performance. Even though he was a little expensive, giving 36 runs in his four overs, he managed to pick up early wickets. He dismissed Prabhsimran Singh and Chris Gayle during the initial stages of the innings and later came back to pick up the wicket of Chris Jordan.

Shikhar Dhawan:

The Delhi opener has been in some tremendous form. He was once again at his best during his knock of 69 runs. He took on the attack to the opposition and kept chipping away with the boundary even when Punjab started to put some pressure. This knock will be very satisfying to him, considering the fact that he took the orange cap once again.

Mayank Agarwal: Mayank Agarwal led from the front on his captaincy debut. When all the batsmen around him failed, the opener batted superbly and remained unbeaten till the end. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get to his ton but his 99* off 58 propelled Punjab Kings to a fighting total in the end.

Personal achievements/records:

This is the first time Kagiso Rabada dismissed Chris Gayle in IPL.

Agarwal’s 99 is the second-highest score on captaincy debut in IPL.

Way ahead:

Punjab Kings will now play Bangalore on May 06 while Delhi will face Kolkata on May 08. Both the matches will be played in Ahmedabad.