DC vs KXIP in 50 Words
DC in trouble with just 100 runs on the board and three overs to go → Enter Marcus Stoinis
DC in trouble with Punjab requiring just 1 run off three balls → Enter Marcus Stoinis
DC in yet another Super Over → Enter Kagiso Rabada
The Stoin Goes Bang Bang After Panicky Start
The toss went Punjab’s way and KL Rahul chose to bowl in his first IPL game as captain. Ricky and Shreyas chose to add some more Protea Fire to the bowling line-up with Anrich Nortje making his IPL debut in our first game of the season. Ashwin, Hetmyer, Stoinis and Mohit Sharma were the others to play their first game in DC colours, with Ashwin playing against his former outfit for the first time.
Shaw began with a streaky boundary to third man, but you take them as they come when you’re playing your first professional game in ages, just to get the nerves out of the way.
The second over saw a disastrous and uncharacteristic mix-up between Dhawan and Shaw, costing the former his prized wicket. Hetmyer walked in and faced scares in his first two deliveries for DC. Shaw fell to an ordinary shot and Hetmyer followed him back to the hut after a leading edge to cover. At 13/3, it was a shaky start to say the least.
Rishabh Pant started positively, with a crisp cut to the point fence off his first ball. With consolidation in mind, Shreyas and Rishabh took the score to 23/3 at the end of the powerplay.
Pant found the boundaries sporadically, his second one coming off an innovative sweep against the off-spinner Gowtham. Shreyas broke his shackles in the same over, with an absolutely humongous maximum over long-on. With 13 runs off the ninth over, DC’s big names got the scoreboard ticking to 45/3.
SIXXXX
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
That shot from Shreyas had sukoon written all over it 😍
DC - 43/3 (8.4 overs)#DCvKXIP #IPL2020 #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/sVStlafZeU
A half-century of the Iyer-Pant partnership came up shortly after, as the Capitals ended the 12th over with 64 runs on the board.
It was time to go after the bowling, and Iyer obliged with two monstrous sixes straight over the sight screen and into the empty stands. Well, we all know how dangerous Iyer is without his headgear on.
https://t.co/bprV1yBJ2n pic.twitter.com/LBnLsGQQTO
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
That Gowtham over cost Punjab 15 runs, and the score creeped up to 79/3 after 13 overs.
Against the run of play, immediately after a thumping strike straight down the ground for four, Pant lost his wicket to an inside edge onto the stumps. Ravi Bishnoi had his first IPL scalp. With Iyer (39 off 32) mistiming a Shami delivery to mid-off on the very next ball, we were in trouble yet again. It’s not an ideal scenario when you’ve lost half your side for 87 with 5.5 overs to go.
The hundred came up a little later than we’d have liked under the circumstances, at the end of the 17th over with 6 batsmen back in the dugout. It was up to Stoinis to get us to a respectable total, and boy did he deliver!
The Stoin deposited the first ball of the 18th into the stands over mid-wicket, a very very welcome boundary. A baker’s dozen off the 18th over took us to 113.
Marcus was getting a move on. The first three balls of the 19th over went like this - A perfectly placed cover drive, a swivel pull and a slice carved between backward point and short-third man to make it three boundaries in a row. These were signs of a crystal clear mindset, and a formidable skillset.
STOINISSSSSSS 😎
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
3 boundaries in a row.
DC - 126/6 (18.3 overs)#RockyAurVicky #DCvKXIP #IPL2020 #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/wuom3B0JFC
A whip off his hips for six was just the way to start carnage in the final over. Stoinis was in his element. The next four legal deliveries read 4, 4, 4, 6. The last maximum took him to a 20-ball 50, a swashbuckling innings with the odds stacked up against him. His innings of 53 ended with a run-out on a no-ball off what was supposed to be the final ball of the innings, but he’d done his job to propel us to 157/8.
A scarcely believable 57 runs were scored in the last three overs, with Stoinis scoring 49 of them in just 14 balls - the third most by a batsman in the last three overs of an innings in the history of the IPL.
Stoinis and Rabada Hold Nerve to Negate Mayank’s Brilliance
Anrich Nortje started proceedings for us on his debut with a tidy first over. KL Rahul got a couple of good-looking boundaries away, before Mohit Sharma outdid him with one that jagged back in to disturb the woodwork.
Ashwin couldn’t have asked for a better way to start a game that holds a lot of significance for him. The wickets of Karun Nair and Nicholas Pooran came in his very first over against his former team, the second wicket an absolute beauty to bowl the left-hander.
Well, Ashwin didn't decide to leave it there 🤫
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
KXIP - 34/3 (5.5 overs)#DCvKXIP #Dream11IPL #IPL2020 #YehHaiNayiDilli https://t.co/PersyE0aW7
Unfortunately, Ashwin injured his shoulder and walked off with a makeshift sling, ending his game abruptly.
Shreyas read the game perfectly and went for the kill, bringing Rabada back immediately to bowl against Maxwell. The move worked wonders, with the dangerous Aussie giving the skipper himself a simple catch at mid-off. We had the Kings XI in dire straits at 35/4.
Axar Patel brought an end to Sarfaraz’s innings in the 10th over. The Kings XI had 55 on the board at the halfway mark, with half their side out. Mayank Agarwal decided to play his strokes and found the boundaries at regular intervals, with Gowtham providing support. The 6th wicket partnership was building.
Axar Patel finished his spell in the 14th over, with commendable figures of 1/14. Rabada was brought back into the attack to break the ominous Agarwal-Gowtham stand, and he did just what was asked of him.
At the fall of Punjab’s sixth wicket, the equation stood at 57 runs to get from 27 deliveries, but Agarwal pushed the required run-rate down with a flurry of boundaries. The opener brought up his half-century on the first ball of the 18th over with a slice over point for six.
Mayank was playing a blinder. He notched up another maximum off Mohit Sharma and a couple of boundaries off Rabada’s 19th. The second of the two fours came off an extremely costly drop from Iyer at the mid-wicket fence. Marcus Stoinis claimed the all-important wicket of Agarwal as he smashed a full toss straight into Hetmyer’s hands at sweeper on the penultimate ball. On the final ball, Stoinis bailed us out of trouble once again with Rabada taking a sharp catch at square leg.
RT if you would sign a petition for a @MStoinis statue outside Dubai International Cricket Stadium 🔁#DCvKXIP #Dream11IPL #IPL2020 #YehHaiNayiDilli
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
We were going into a Super Over yet again!
“Been there, done that.” - KG, probably
KL Rahul and Pooran walked in, and Rabada accounted for both of them in the space of three Super Over deliveries for just 2 runs - the lowest score in Super Overs in the IPL. KG = Super Over GOAT?
Ae ji, oh ji, thank God for KG 🔥#DCvKXIP #Dream11IPL #IPL2020 #YehHaiNayiDilli #RockyAurVicky pic.twitter.com/fJ5rcuUFAs
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
Well, after this, the three runs to be scored were almost a formality.
If the drama of our very first fixture is anything to go by, we are in for a crackerjack of a season. If you find yourself wondering if your heart and your voice box can take another Super Over, you’re not alone.
DC vs KXIP in 50 Words
DC in trouble with just 100 runs on the board and three overs to go → Enter Marcus Stoinis
DC in trouble with Punjab requiring just 1 run off three balls → Enter Marcus Stoinis
DC in yet another Super Over → Enter Kagiso Rabada
The Stoin Goes Bang Bang After Panicky Start
The toss went Punjab’s way and KL Rahul chose to bowl in his first IPL game as captain. Ricky and Shreyas chose to add some more Protea Fire to the bowling line-up with Anrich Nortje making his IPL debut in our first game of the season. Ashwin, Hetmyer, Stoinis and Mohit Sharma were the others to play their first game in DC colours, with Ashwin playing against his former outfit for the first time.
Shaw began with a streaky boundary to third man, but you take them as they come when you’re playing your first professional game in ages, just to get the nerves out of the way.
The second over saw a disastrous and uncharacteristic mix-up between Dhawan and Shaw, costing the former his prized wicket. Hetmyer walked in and faced scares in his first two deliveries for DC. Shaw fell to an ordinary shot and Hetmyer followed him back to the hut after a leading edge to cover. At 13/3, it was a shaky start to say the least.
Rishabh Pant started positively, with a crisp cut to the point fence off his first ball. With consolidation in mind, Shreyas and Rishabh took the score to 23/3 at the end of the powerplay.
Pant found the boundaries sporadically, his second one coming off an innovative sweep against the off-spinner Gowtham. Shreyas broke his shackles in the same over, with an absolutely humongous maximum over long-on. With 13 runs off the ninth over, DC’s big names got the scoreboard ticking to 45/3.
SIXXXX
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
That shot from Shreyas had sukoon written all over it 😍
DC - 43/3 (8.4 overs)#DCvKXIP #IPL2020 #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/sVStlafZeU
A half-century of the Iyer-Pant partnership came up shortly after, as the Capitals ended the 12th over with 64 runs on the board.
It was time to go after the bowling, and Iyer obliged with two monstrous sixes straight over the sight screen and into the empty stands. Well, we all know how dangerous Iyer is without his headgear on.
https://t.co/bprV1yBJ2n pic.twitter.com/LBnLsGQQTO
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
That Gowtham over cost Punjab 15 runs, and the score creeped up to 79/3 after 13 overs.
Against the run of play, immediately after a thumping strike straight down the ground for four, Pant lost his wicket to an inside edge onto the stumps. Ravi Bishnoi had his first IPL scalp. With Iyer (39 off 32) mistiming a Shami delivery to mid-off on the very next ball, we were in trouble yet again. It’s not an ideal scenario when you’ve lost half your side for 87 with 5.5 overs to go.
The hundred came up a little later than we’d have liked under the circumstances, at the end of the 17th over with 6 batsmen back in the dugout. It was up to Stoinis to get us to a respectable total, and boy did he deliver!
The Stoin deposited the first ball of the 18th into the stands over mid-wicket, a very very welcome boundary. A baker’s dozen off the 18th over took us to 113.
Marcus was getting a move on. The first three balls of the 19th over went like this - A perfectly placed cover drive, a swivel pull and a slice carved between backward point and short-third man to make it three boundaries in a row. These were signs of a crystal clear mindset, and a formidable skillset.
STOINISSSSSSS 😎
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
3 boundaries in a row.
DC - 126/6 (18.3 overs)#RockyAurVicky #DCvKXIP #IPL2020 #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/wuom3B0JFC
A whip off his hips for six was just the way to start carnage in the final over. Stoinis was in his element. The next four legal deliveries read 4, 4, 4, 6. The last maximum took him to a 20-ball 50, a swashbuckling innings with the odds stacked up against him. His innings of 53 ended with a run-out on a no-ball off what was supposed to be the final ball of the innings, but he’d done his job to propel us to 157/8.
A scarcely believable 57 runs were scored in the last three overs, with Stoinis scoring 49 of them in just 14 balls - the third most by a batsman in the last three overs of an innings in the history of the IPL.
Stoinis and Rabada Hold Nerve to Negate Mayank’s Brilliance
Anrich Nortje started proceedings for us on his debut with a tidy first over. KL Rahul got a couple of good-looking boundaries away, before Mohit Sharma outdid him with one that jagged back in to disturb the woodwork.
Ashwin couldn’t have asked for a better way to start a game that holds a lot of significance for him. The wickets of Karun Nair and Nicholas Pooran came in his very first over against his former team, the second wicket an absolute beauty to bowl the left-hander.
Well, Ashwin didn't decide to leave it there 🤫
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
KXIP - 34/3 (5.5 overs)#DCvKXIP #Dream11IPL #IPL2020 #YehHaiNayiDilli https://t.co/PersyE0aW7
Unfortunately, Ashwin injured his shoulder and walked off with a makeshift sling, ending his game abruptly.
Shreyas read the game perfectly and went for the kill, bringing Rabada back immediately to bowl against Maxwell. The move worked wonders, with the dangerous Aussie giving the skipper himself a simple catch at mid-off. We had the Kings XI in dire straits at 35/4.
Axar Patel brought an end to Sarfaraz’s innings in the 10th over. The Kings XI had 55 on the board at the halfway mark, with half their side out. Mayank Agarwal decided to play his strokes and found the boundaries at regular intervals, with Gowtham providing support. The 6th wicket partnership was building.
Axar Patel finished his spell in the 14th over, with commendable figures of 1/14. Rabada was brought back into the attack to break the ominous Agarwal-Gowtham stand, and he did just what was asked of him.
At the fall of Punjab’s sixth wicket, the equation stood at 57 runs to get from 27 deliveries, but Agarwal pushed the required run-rate down with a flurry of boundaries. The opener brought up his half-century on the first ball of the 18th over with a slice over point for six.
Mayank was playing a blinder. He notched up another maximum off Mohit Sharma and a couple of boundaries off Rabada’s 19th. The second of the two fours came off an extremely costly drop from Iyer at the mid-wicket fence. Marcus Stoinis claimed the all-important wicket of Agarwal as he smashed a full toss straight into Hetmyer’s hands at sweeper on the penultimate ball. On the final ball, Stoinis bailed us out of trouble once again with Rabada taking a sharp catch at square leg.
RT if you would sign a petition for a @MStoinis statue outside Dubai International Cricket Stadium 🔁#DCvKXIP #Dream11IPL #IPL2020 #YehHaiNayiDilli
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
We were going into a Super Over yet again!
“Been there, done that.” - KG, probably
KL Rahul and Pooran walked in, and Rabada accounted for both of them in the space of three Super Over deliveries for just 2 runs - the lowest score in Super Overs in the IPL. KG = Super Over GOAT?
Ae ji, oh ji, thank God for KG 🔥#DCvKXIP #Dream11IPL #IPL2020 #YehHaiNayiDilli #RockyAurVicky pic.twitter.com/fJ5rcuUFAs
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 20, 2020
Well, after this, the three runs to be scored were almost a formality.
If the drama of our very first fixture is anything to go by, we are in for a crackerjack of a season. If you find yourself wondering if your heart and your voice box can take another Super Over, you’re not alone.