Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) have finally managed to get back to the winning ways in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 as they registered three consecutive wins by defeating the Delhi Capitals (DC). They have defeated the top two teams of the tournament, to jump to the fifth position with the help of a brilliant fifty from Nicholas Pooran and brilliant bowling from Mohammed Shami. For a change, KL Rahul was dismissed early and Mayank Agarwal also got run-out in a mix-up with Pooran.
However, Chris Gayle and Pooran had started assaulting the DC bowlers to take KXIP way ahead in the chase. The Universe Boss smashed 26 runs off the bowling of inexperienced, Tushar Deshpande, but the southpaw was dismissed by Ravi Ashwin in the very next over but, Pooran took charge then and sowed no mercy on the DC bowlers. Nicholas Pooran soon raced away to a 27-ball half-century as he made sure that the required run-rate came below six.
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At the other end, Glenn Maxwell finally showed glimpses of returning to the form as he scored 32 off 24 balls and but he was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada when his team was needing just 18 runs to win. Deepak Hooda and Jimmy Neesham then duly completed the chase without any panic with an over and five wickets in hand.
After opting to bat first, it was all about Shikhar Dhawan continued from where he left off against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during his unbeaten century. His fellow opener, Prithvi Shaw, and skipper, Shreyas Iyer failed to do much as they were dismissed early.
After 10 overs, DC was 83/2 and looked set to post a score around 180. However, for some strange reasons, DC failed to up the ante owing to some misery bowling from spinners, Murugan Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi, who bowled well. To make it worse, Rishabh Pant was dismissed after eating up too many balls.
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However, Dhawan kept on smashing boundaries despite other batsmen getting in and getting out at the other end. He scored his second successive century off just 57 balls. However, KXIP did extremely well in the death overs conceding only 25 runs in the last three overs. DC, despite a stunning 106* from Dhawan, only managed to reach the tally of 164 runs for the loss of five wickets in their 20 overs.
Match Summary:
Kings XI Punjab – 167/5 in 19 overs (N Pooran: 53, G Maxwell: 32; K Rabada: 2/27) defeated Delhi Capitals – 164/5 in 20 overs (S Dhawan: 106*; M Shami: 2/28, G Maxwell: 1/31) by 5 wickets
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
JIMMYYY PAAAAAAAAAA! 😍😍
Gets in the arc and sends it all the wayyyyy 🔥#SaddaPunjab #IPL2020 #KXIP #KXIPvDC
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) October 20, 2020
Well played, Pooran 👏🏻 That innings changed the match.
Congratulations on a good game, @lionsdenkxip 🤜🏻🤛🏻#KXIPvDC #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) October 20, 2020
They've got many things wrong, but credit to Kings XI Punjab for sticking with Nicholas Pooran after those two ducks early on. He's starting to deliver and has set himself up as a key member of the core group going forward.
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) October 20, 2020
Beating number 1 and 2 on the points table back to back certainly gives @lionsdenkxip a solid boost as well important points to keep them alive in the #IPL2020 Well done #nicholaspooran #shami
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 20, 2020
Excellent win for KXIP! They bowled really well to keep DC to 164 despite a ton from Dhawan.
DC got their bowling plans wrong and it cost them the game.
Man of the Match – Nicholas Pooran.
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) October 20, 2020
And @kxip is looking dangerous and making a statement! @nicholas_47 the game changer ! Beautiful to watch ! What a player !!! #DCvKXIP #IPL2020
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) October 20, 2020
#KXIP comes back into form as they win easily against #DelhiCapitals by 5 wickets. #KXIP bowlers did a good job & their overseas big hitters Gayle, Pooran & Maxwell (finally) made useful quick runs. #DCvKXIP
— Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) October 20, 2020
Finally, @lionsdenkxip's overseas batting stars came to the party. Gayle and Pooran made it easy for #KXIP. 3 consecutive wins against the three best sides of the #IPL2020 is not surprising for Punjab if you see how unlucky they were in some matches. #KXIPvDC #IPLinUAE
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) October 20, 2020
Wonderful chase by @lionsdenkxip , makes the #IPLinUAE really interesting! Brilliant knock by @SDhawan25 for back to back 100's unfortunately in vain! Looks like we are set for a block buster finish for the 4th! #DCvsKXIP
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) October 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/rohangava9/status/1318603175411224577?s=20
Some power packed shots played by @nicholas_47.
What a clean striker of the ball he has been. His stance and backlift reminds me of @jpduminy21.#KXIPvDC #IPL2020— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 20, 2020
