Digvesh Rathi Delivers at the Death as Purani Dilli 6 Seal Another DPL Victory
Purani Dilli 6 finished the league stages with a six run victory over East Delhi Riders at Arun Jaitley Stadium. The team posted 169/7, after which they relied on Digvesh Rathi for death bowling brilliance.
Sujal Singh kept East Delhi Riders in the chase, but the team fell short on chasing the target.
Pitch and Weather
The match will be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium, which is expected to be a batter-friendly track with quick outfield and consistent bounce. The shorter boundaries will allow batsmen to score more runs in this game, as spinners and cutters will play a crucial role in the middle overs when the pitch gets slow. Batters will only be able to score freely once they are settled on the crease. Warm and humid conditions with mostly clear skies are expected, with little threat of rain.
Toss
East Delhi Riders win the toss and decide to bowl first. The team aims to make use of the bowler friendly conditions early in the game and restrict Purani Dilli 6 to a low total.
Lineups
Purani Dilli 6: Aryan Gaur, Samarth Seth, Anuj Rawat (C), Dev Lakra, Lalit Yadav, Rohan Rathi, Pankaj Jaswal, Rajneesh Dadar, Udhav Mohan, Digvesh Rathi, Ajay Ahlawat
East Delhi Riders: Hardik Sharma, Kavya Gupta, Sujal Singh, Mayank Rawat, Vaibhav Baisla, Suryansh Raina, Rohan Parchanda, Harsh Bhardwaj, Simarjeet Singh (C), Mayank Yadav, Ashish Meena, Yashwardhan Oberai (Impact)
Match Report
Purani Dilli 6 had a strong start with the bat, as Aryan Gaur and Samarth Seth took advantage of the field restrictions. The pair added 49 runs for the opening wicket before Mayank Yadav removed Seth for 24. Gaur kept on attacking the bowlers before Simarjeet Singh removed him for 36, bringing back East Delhi into the game.
Anuj Rawat and Dev Lakra were able to rebuild the innings with their 58-run partnership. Rawat was able to target the spinners while Lakra rotated the strike effectively. Harsh Bhardwaj was able to give the breakthrough by removing Rawat for 34. Lalit Yadav gave a late acceleration, scoring 39 runs off 23 balls, as Rohan Rathi also added 21 runs from 12 balls. Purani Dilli finished scoring 169/7 in 20 overs.
East Delhi Riders had a strong start to the chase as Hardik Sharma and Kavya Gupta added 51 runs for the first wicket. Digvesh Rathi was able to remove Gupta for 28, as Ajay Ahlawat quickly came in to remove Sharma for 37. Sujal Singh and Mayank Rawat attempted to rebuild the innings with their 68-run stand. Rawat lost his wicket for 35, but Sujal Singh stood at the crease to keep the required rate under control.
The team required 32 runs off 20 balls when Suryansh Raina produced a cameo of 28 runs from 15 balls. But Digvesh Rathi bowled an excellent final over, as he conceded six runs and even removed Sujal Singh for 52 runs off 34 balls. East Delhi required 14 runs off the final five balls where they scored just 9, losing the game by five runs.
Player of the Match
Digvesh Rathi won the Player of the Match award in this game for taking the crucial wickets in the death overs, and even restricting East Delhi Riders, when the target was almost in their hands.