IPL 2020: Ton up Dhawan, Axar late strike give Delhi Capitals 5 wickets win over CSK

Delhi Capital’s Shikhar Dhawan on his way to his maiden IPL hundred against Chennai Super Kings. Image Source: BCCI/IPL

Xtra Time Web Desk: A brilliant maiden hundred from Shikhar Dhawan and a late cameo from Axar Patel gave Delhi Capitals 5 wickets win over Chennai Super Kings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The win took Shreyas Iyer’s team on top of the table with 14 points from 9 matches.

Dhawan continued his good form as he slammed his first IPL hundred. It was his first ton in 167 IPL matches. He reached the milestone in the 19th over and his 57 ball knock was compiled with 14 hits to the fence and a six. Needing 16 runs to win. Axar Patel dispatched Ravindra Jadeja for three huge sixes in the final over to see his team home with one balls to spare.

Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer later said, “I was sitting inside and I was pretty nervous. I knew if Shikhar stayed till the end, we would win, but the way Axar came out and hit those sixes, it was brilliant. Whenever we give out dressing room Man of the match awards, he is always there. You see his preparations, they are always on point. We know the strengths and weaknesses of our team very well. We enjoy each other’s progress. I just told one of my team-mates today that the way Shikhar batted it was mesmerising to see. As a captain, that gives you breathing space that someone can take your team to the end.”

Losing CSK Captain MS Dhoni clarified his decision to bowl Jadeja ahead of Bravo.”Bravo was not fit. He went out and didn’t come back. The options were Jaddu and Karn. I went with Jaddu. Shikhar’s wicket was important but we dropped him quite a number of times. If he keeps batting, he will keep the strike rate high. Also the wicket played better in the second half, but we can’t take the credit away from Shikhar. There wasn’t a lot of dew, but there was just enough to make the pitch better. That makes a big difference: minus 10 when you are batting, and the extra 10 for the team batting second. A positive was Sam’s last over. He needs convincing he can execute the wide yorkers. He is not usually confident with that, but today he did well with that. So that is one ball that can be difficult to hit.”