The second match of the IPL 2020 was played between two quality sides. KL Rahul led Kings XI Punjab taking on Shreyas Iyer’s Delhi Capitals was going to be one close contest. Both sides look fairly even on paper though the toss was going to play a crucial role for the side going ahead in the game.
The pitch looked slightly favourable towards the seamers due to the grass on the pitch. Which is why any captain winning the toss would look to bowl first so they can have that advantage early on in the innings. Rahul won the toss and elected to field putting the Delhi side to bat first.
The Delhi side collapsed as soon as the innings began with Hetymer, Shaw and Dhawan being dismissed cheaply. This was when Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant chipped in important runs in the middle overs.
After their fall of wickets, it was the Stoinis show altogether as he scored a quickfire 53 off 21 deliveries taking the total to 157 at the end of 20 overs. Kings XI Punjab side in the chase too collapsed early on in the innings, this was followed by Ravichandran Ashwin’s dream over where he picked two wickets only giving away two runs. But in the process of trying to stop the ball of his own delivery, Ashwin injured himself.
Sometimes Luck Goes Your Way: Marcus Stoinis
Then it was purely the Mayank Agarwal show as he scores 89 to chase an impeccable target of 158 but loses his wicket in the final minutes of the game. What was followed by this was the unexpected as the match went down to a super over where Delhi Capitals propelled the Kings XI Punjab all thanks to Kagiso Rabada.
Also Read: Twitter Hails Marcus Stoinis’ Capital Blitz Against Kings XI Punjab
The man of the match of today’s game was Marcus Stoinis for his stellar show out in the middle. At the post-match presentation, Stoinis mentioned how luck prevailed for him today and he thoroughly enjoyed his performance today.
“It’s a weird game, sometimes the luck goes your way, but it’s easy to become the villain from the hero. SO it’s important to enjoy the good days. I try to close down the areas where the bowlers can bowl, and it worked today. It’s important to feed off everyone’s energy.”
Stoinis was in all praise for Kagiso Rabada’s temperament in bowling the super over, also answered the mystery around him not batting in the super over.
“It’s nice that the IPL has gotten going again, and tonight has been great entertainment. I thought KG bowled a beautiful over, and I don’t have any qualms about not batting in the super over – I think the left-right batting combination was the right thing.”
The Sunrisers Hyderabad side led by David Warner will take on the Red hot Royal Challengers Bangalore in the third match of this year’s IPL played in the UAE.
