Skipper Himmat Singh and Mayank Rawat’s unbeaten 122-run partnership off 66 balls guided East Delhi Riders to a clinical six-wicket win over North Delhi Strikers in the 14th match of the Delhi Premier League (DPL) at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
Simarjeet Singh’s impressive 3-30 with the ball restricted North Delhi Strikers to 179/7 in 20 overs after a solid start. The sublime century stand between Himmat Singh and Mayank Rawat not only secured the win but also extended East Delhi Riders’ unbeaten streak in the tournament, keeping them at the top of the points table with five wins from five matches.
East Delhi Riders had a staggered start to the run chase as they were four down by the end of the eighth over with just 59 runs on the board. Sujal Singh (3 off 6) was the first to fall in the second over, followed by his opening partner Anuj Rawat (1 off 6) in the fifth over. Samarth Seth (9 off 8) and Hardik Sharma (3 off 6) were also dismissed quickly during the seventh and eighth overs respectively.
Himmat Singh (85* off 50) and Mayank Rawat (66* off 37) then took the onus on themselves, replicating the resilience they showed in their previous match. The duo stabilised the innings with a counterattacking approach that saw East Delhi Riders surpass the 100-run mark by the end of the 12th over. In the same over, Singh brought up his second consecutive fifty in 31 balls, with the team needing 77 runs off 48 balls to win.
Singh and Rawat kept the scoreboard moving with timely boundaries in the following overs. By the end of the 16th over, East Delhi Riders had reached 143/4, needing 37 runs from the final 24 balls.
Rawat, who was given a lifeline in the 17th over, reached his fifty in 32 balls. Along with Singh, East Delhi Riders scored as many as 27 runs in the 18th over, and eventually chased down the target in 18.3 overs.
After being asked to bat first, openers Vaibhav Kandpal and Sarthak Ranjan gave North Delhi Strikers a flying start as they amassed 48 runs in the powerplay. The duo brought up the team’s 100-run mark in the 12th over, and with 10 wickets in hand, North Delhi Strikers were poised for a big total against a solid East Delhi Riders bowling unit.
However, their remarkable partnership of 133 off 85 balls came to an end in the 15th over when Ranjan (60 off 42) was caught behind while attempting an uppercut off Himanshu Chauhan. His partner Kandpal too followed him to the pavilion in the following over off Harsh Tyagi after scoring 66 off 45 balls.
East Delhi Riders’ bowlers made a strong comeback in the death overs. They took wickets in quick intervals and contained the North Delhi Strikers. Captain Pranshu Vijayran (1 off 3) fell cheaply in the 16th over, while Yash Dabas played a quickfire 21 off 8 before getting dismissed in the 18th over, leaving the North Delhi Strikers at 168/4 after 18 overs.
Simranjeet Singh (3-30) and Bhagwan Singh (1-17) bowled brilliantly in the final two overs as they conceded just 11 runs and took three wickets to restrict North Delhi Strikers to 179/7 after 20 overs.
Brief scores: North Delhi Strikers 179/7 in 20 overs (Vaibhav Kandpal 66, Sarthak Ranjan 60; Simarjeet Singh 3-30) lost to East Delhi Riders 180/4 in 18.3 overs (Himmat Singh 85, Mayank Rawat 66; Manan Bhardwaj 1-30) by six wickets.
