IPL 2019: Shikhar Dhawan leads Delhi Capitals to seven-wicket win over KKR 

Thanks to Shikhar Dhawan's brilliant knock, Delhi Capitals registered an easy seven-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the 26th match of IPL 2019 played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Friday. The result put Delhi in the top half of the IPL points table, giving them hope of making a strong push for the playoffs.

Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and decided to bowl first. It turned out to be a good decision as Ishant Sharma dismissed Joe Denly on the very first ball of the match.

Shubman Gill, who was promoted to the top of the order, steadied the innings with Robin Uthappa to take Kolkata Knight Riders to 41 for 1 at the end of six overs.

After the powerplay overs, Kagiso Rabada got the wicket of Uthappa for 28 courtesy a brilliant catch by Risbabh Pant. Uthappa and Gill had added 63 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Gill reached his second IPL fifty off 34 balls before being dismissed for a well-made 65. Andre Russell continued his superb form in this year’s IPL, scoring a quickfire 45 off 21. Russell and Carlos Brathwaite added 39 runs for the 6th wicket.

Chris Morris dismissed Russell before he could do irreparable damage though, and DC managed to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 178 for 7 in 20 overs. Morris, Rabada and Keemo Paul took 2 wickets each.

Chasing a target of 179 runs, Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan got the team off a flying start, scoring 32 runs in 3 overs. Prasidh Krishna got the breakthrough as he dismissed Shaw for 14, but Dhawan continued playing with positive intent after that.

At the end of six overs, Delhi Capitals were 57 for 2.

After the powerplay overs, Dhawan made batting look easy and reached his half-century off 32 balls. Risbabh Pant also showed his class with some big hits. Dhawan and Pant combined to put on 105 runs for the 3rd wicket before the latter threw away his wicket for 46.

Colin Ingram hit the winning runs as Dhawan was left stranded on 97.

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 180 for 3 in 18.5 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 97*, Rishabh Pant 46, Prasidh Krishna 1/25) beat KKR 178 for 7 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 65, Andre Russell 45, Chris Morris 2/38, Ishant Sharma 1/21, Kagiso Rabada 2/42) by 7 wickets.