Kolkata: Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan led from the front and registered his highest score in IPL on Friday night to guide his team to a thumping 7-wicket victory against Kolkata Knight Riders at their home ground Eden Gardens.
Dhawan, who had accumulated only 152 runs in 6 innings at an average of 25.33 and strike rate of 116.03, meant only business when he came out to bat against KKR in front of a packed stadium.
The 33-year-old left-hander smashed 11 boundaries and two maximums in his stunning knock but missed out on a century in the 19th over of DC’s chase.
Needing only 12 runs from the last 2 overs, Colin Ingram took the charge and belted 14 in 6 balls to seal DC’s consecutive victory in the IPL. While there was plenty of time for Dhawan to hit his maiden IPL ton (and in all T20 cricket), Ingram smashed a six on the penultimate ball of 19th over, when the visitors required 5 to win in 8 deliveries. Dhawan remained unbeaten on 97.
Seeing Dhawan miss out on a well-deserved century, cricket fans on Twitter couldn’t help but imagine his reaction after being denied the triple figures by Ingram’s match-winning six.
But what was Dhawan’s real reaction?
“I knew it could have been my first T20 hundred but the team goal is more important and so I took that single rather than taking a big risk,” Dhawan said during the post-match presentation.
Delhi Capitals won the match by 7 wickets with 7 deliveries to spare. With this victory, DC has climbed to 4th spot in the IPL points table.
News18
