IPL 2019, DC vs KXIP: Best captaincy move of the day
The 37th game of the season was played between Delhi Capitals against Kings XI Punjab. Delhi captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field first on a low and slow Kotla wicket. KL Rahul was stumped brilliantly by Pant after a short burst. Chris Gayle was smacking the bowlers at one end and Punjab kept losing the wickets at the other end. Mandeep Singh and the big man had a decent partnership.
The Jamaican who was having a great season scored yet another fifty in his IPL career. He was smashing sixes for fun. Gayle became the second player after Warner to complete 400 runs in this season. This is where Shreyas Iyer changed the match by taking a brave decision. The DC captain brought on Sandeep Lamichhane to bowl in front of Chris Gayle.
It was a tough decision as the Nepali spinner had conceded four fours in one over against Gayle. The move paid off as the leg-spinner dismissed both Gayle and Sam Curran in the same over. Punjab clearly missed the power hitters towards the end. They scored 92 runs for the first ten overs but managed to score only 71 runs in final ten.
Delhi got off to a decent start via Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan. Prithvi Shaw who looked good got run out due to a terrible mix-up. Dhawan made sure that the run out does not hurt his team's chance as he played a brilliant innings. The left-hander completed his 35th half century in IPL.
During 13th over Ashwin stopped the run-up but Dhawan was well within the crease. Shikhar teased him with the funny reaction as he might have tried for another Mankad. Dhawan got out in very next over but he has done his job.
Shreyas Iyer who played second fiddle to Dhawan completed his half-century. There was a mini-collapse at the end but DC held their nerves to win the match by five wickets. This win has helped DC in consolidating their position in the top 4. On the other end, KXIP need to get back to winnings ways to maintain their position in the top 4.
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