The pitches are slowing down in the United Arab Emirates but nothing seems to be affecting Shikhar Dhawan. The southpaw scored his second successive hundred (106, 61b, 12x4, 3x6) — the first batsman in IPL’s history to do so — and guided Delhi Capitals to 164 for five against Kings XI Punjab at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
During the course of his knock, the India international also completed 5000 runs in the IPL, the fifth batsman to do so after Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and David Warner.
Encore
On Saturday, Dhawan had scored an unbeaten 101 off just 58 balls against Chennai Super Kings in Sharjah. The opponent and the venue changed this time around, but the dashing opener rode on the same intent and carried his bat again.
KXIP has had a forgetful start to the season. Despite K.L. Rahul’s and Mayank Agarwal’s presence at the top of the run charts, it has lost six out of nine games.
However, the Super Over victory over Mumbai Indians — the first Super Over also ended in a tie before KXIP won it in the second — must have restored some self-belief. Skipper Rahul, not shying away from experimenting, started proceedings by tossing the ball to off-spinner Glenn Maxwell again.
Prithvi Shaw and Dhawan like pace on the ball and are not too comfortable against spin upfront. The Australian almost pulled off a caught-and-bowled dismissal off Dhawan off his sixth delivery. In the initial overs, Rahul also kept Chris Gayle at first slip in order to trap the Delhi left-hander. Shaw’s miserable run continued (7, 11b, 1x4) as Maxwell caught him off Jimmy Neesham in the fourth over. Dhawan did not allow the pressure to get to him, dealing in boundaries as he usually does. He collected 12 runs from a Mohammed Shami over, thrice piercing the gaps expertly. DC finished the PowerPlay with the score reading 53 for one.
KXIP made inroads by picking up a few crucial wickets, but Dhawan ensured the scoreboard moved as swiftly as his feet did against the seam bowlers.
Shreyas Iyer (14, 12b, 1x6), Rishabh Pant (14, 20, 1x4), Marcus Stoinis (9, 10b) did not fire. Leg-spinner M. Ashwin induced an edge off Shreyas’ attempted flick, with Rahul completing a smart catch behind the stumps. The KXIP skipper moved along the line of the ball to pouch the offering. Pant — returning from injury — found Mayank at long-on while trying to clear Maxwell. Mayank took his second catch when Stoinis tried to charge Shami. The India speedster stood out among the KXIP bowlers (two for 28).
Scorecard
DELHI CAPITALS
Prithvi Shaw c Maxwell b Neesham 7 (11b, 1x4), Shikhar Dhawan not out106 (61b,12x4, 3x6), Shreyas Iyer c Rahul b M Ashwin 14 (12b, 1x6), Rishabh Pant c Mayank b Maxwell 14 (20b, 1x4), Marcus Stoinis c Mayank b Shami 9 (10b), Shimron Hetmyer b Shami 10 (6b, 1x6)
Extras (lb-1, w-3): 4
Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 164
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-25 (Shaw, 3.2 overs), 2-73 (Shreyas Iyer, 8.3), 3-106 (Pant, 13.4), 4-141 (Stoinis, 17.3), 5-164 (Hetmyer, 19.6).
KINGS XI PUNJAB BOWLING
Maxwell 4-0-31-1, Shami 4-0-28-2, Arshdeep 3-0-30-0, Neesham 2-0-17-1, M Ashwin 4-0-33-1, Bishnoi 3-0-24-0.
Toss: DC