Punjab continued their top form in the second half of the tournament as the revival of KL Rahul's side changed the points table of this season. Pooran's blistering half-century was enough to overshadow Dhawan's 2nd ton in Dubai. With this win, Punjab moved to 5th in the table and they also boosted their NRR with a good margin victory over Delhi.
Toss: Delhi opted to bat first
Team Changes: Rishabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer and Daniel Sams come in (Delhi)
Jimmy Neesham comes in (Punjab)
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Detailed Match Report
Delhi’s top order got tough questions in the start as they lost Prithvi Shaw on 7. Dhawan continued his top form and Iyer joined him to add 48 runs before Murugan Ashwin got the skipper on just 14. The best part was Dhawan’s single-handed knock which kept Delhi in the game. Pant and Stoinis also got out in middle-overs but Dhawan carried Delhi’s innings on his shoulder. He scored yet another hundred to set a record in the tournament. With some firing, in the end, Delhi finished on 164.
Punjab’s chase started on a disappointing note as they lost tournament’s top scorer KL Rahul on 15. Chris Gayle was in firing mood and he smashed 26 runs off Despande’s over to put Punjab on top. Ashwin’s over changed the game for Delhi. First, he got Gayle and then Mayank Agarwal got runout after a bad call from Pooran. Despite the pressure, the approach didn’t change for Pooran as he smashed Tushar Deshpande and Stoinis in back-to-back overs to put Punjab in commanding position. Punjab crossed 100 runs in just 9.5 overs. Pooran completed his half-century on just 27 balls and got out on the next ball. The required run-rate was below 6 so Punjab made this chase so easy in the end. Rabada got Maxwell in his final over to draw something for his side but it was a delayed effort. Punjab chased down the target with ease and added third consecutive victory.
Star Performer of the Match
Shikhar Dhawan is our star performer of the match, despite losing the game for his side. The left-batsman put an extraordinary batting show with scoring consecutive hundred. He didn’t get enough support from the other end. In his unbeaten century, he scored 12 fours and 2 sixes.
Top 5 players who made an impact in the game
Shikhar Dhawan 106 (61)
Mohammed Shami 4-0-28-2
Pooran 53 (28)
Glenn Maxwell 4-0-31-1 & 32 (24)
Kagiso Rabada 4-0-27-2
