IPL 2020 LIVE SCORE, KXIP vs DC Match: Shikhar Dhawan single-handedly drags Delhi to 164/5 with historic knock – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

October 20, 2020 trendingspace 0 Comments

IPL 2020 LIVE SCORE, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians:

Shami bowls the final over. Dhawan walks across and sweeps the low full toss over backward square leg for two runs. The next two balls are right on the money, fuller deliveries targetting the stumps for two singles. Dhawan then tries to play a reverse hit, but fails to execute his shot. A wicket off the final ball. Terrific last over from Shami, he does it again today bowling those yorkers. Dhawan remained unbeaten on 106 as Delhi score 164-5 in 20 overs. This could be a tricky chase. We’ll be back soon.

Preview: Fresh from a thrilling Super Over win against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Sunday, Kings XI Punjab will take on table-toppers Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.

KXIP, riding on a fine 51-ball 77 by their in-form skipper KL Rahul, tied Mumbai Indian’s tally of 176/6 in 20 overs, necessitating a Super Over to break the deadlock. The Super Over ended in a tie too, which called for another Super Over in which KXIP prevailed.

The close win sums up KXIP’s season of near misses – they lost to DC in a Super Over earlier in the tournament, besides losing to KKR in the last over more recently. Despite the roaring form of Rahul and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal, KXIP are in the bottom half of the table thanks to their faltering team combination and a very brittle middle order.

The arrival of Chris Gayle, albeit inexplicably late, has infused some power and reliability in the batting line-up, and while the likes of Nicholas Pooran have flickered, Glenn Maxwell’s failures have been a sorry constant for them.

By contrast, Delhi Capitals are the team to beat in IPL 2020. A balanced squad with a sterling pace arsenal, DC have shown that they do not rely on one or two players to get the job done. They have lost Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, and Rishabh Pant to injuries (Mishra and Sharma for the entire tournament), but have found players who have stepped up to the challenge.

Shikhar Dhawan has announced his return to form with a fifty followed by his maiden IPL ton in his last two innings, while the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, and Axar Patel have shone in one match or another. Patel, in fact, blasted three sixes in the 20th over of the chase against CSK to win DC a tight game, and has been an unsung hero of sorts for the team.

In the bowling department too, DC, on paper, appear a much stronger and complete side. Kagiso Rabada tops the wicket-takers’ list and his battle against Rahul and Agarwal, the top two scorers of the tournament so far, will be one to watch out for. Then, there’s the extreme pace of Anrich Nortje and a skillful Tushar Deshpande to deal contend with. Stoinis and Axar are genuine all-rounders and offer a lot of options to skipper Iyer.

All the IPL matches will be shown live on Star Sports India channels and games can also be streamed live on Disney + Hotstar. You can follow the live blog and updates on www.firstpost.com

Kings XI Punjab full squad: KL Rahul (Captain), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Arshdeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, M Ashwin, J Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Darshan Nalkande, Glenn Maxwell, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Nicholas Pooran, Prabhsimran Singh.