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Suryansh Shedge helped Punjab Kings off to a flying finish as he smacked Mitchell Starc for some massive sixes after the Australian struck twice in the 19th over of the game.
Delhi Capitals made several changes to their squad, especially the bowling attack, as they dropped the likes of Natarajan and Kuldeep Yadav, the two experienced hands in the DC lineup. They backed some young players in Madhav Tiwari and Auqib Dar, and the trick paid off really well.
Suryansh Shedge smashes a gigantic 100-meter six off Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Starc returned with the penultimate over of the innings and picked two wickets in the first two balls, dismissing the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Shashank Singh in consecutive deliveries. However, after dismissals, Starc was on a hat-trick and chose to go for a short ball.
Suryansh Shedge was the new batter at the crease who thumped it over the long-on region for a six, and it was just the beginning of the carnage. A perfect death-over batting display, he smashed the next ball off to the fence.
Off the final delivery of Starc's over, he got one right under his eyes and hoiked it over the deep mid-wicket region for a mammoth six. The distance meter measured 100 meters, and young Shedge was busy aura farming after having taken down one of the greatest pacers of this generation.
Punjab Kings post a promising 210 on a relatively slow Dharamshala pitch
The Punjab Kings have finished playing at the PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh and have moved to the new home ground in Dharamshala. In their first match at this new home ground, the pitch didn't seem the best of batting tracks.
With the ball coming slow off the length and the bounce being variable, the Punjab batters struggled in the middle overs as the run rate fell from a whopping 12 to less than 9 runs per over.
Despite their struggle, Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer helped them through that middle phase with great patience and batted alongside Cooper Connolly, the centurion from the previous game, to add some crucial runs to the innings. They accelerated towards the end and posted a decent 210 after some carnage from young Suryansh Shedge towards the back end.
Punjab Kings make a good start with three wickets within the powerplay
Punjab Kings, after having scored some runs with the bat, needed to do something they have been worse at this season: defend a total. They have been terrible in this department, as they have failed to defend even massive totals.
However, on this occasion, they made a promising start to the game, dismissing the Delhi openers early. Abhishek Porel was dismissed by Yash Thakur, while KL Rahul and Sahil Parekh were also dismissed within the powerplay by the PBKS key pacer Arshdeep Singh.
This might be the first time in a chase that the Kings struck this early and were in the driver's seat right within the powerplay. The Punjab Kings are anyway aiming for the top spot in the points table with a comeback win.
