His second fifty in seven Indian Premier League innings this year could not be better timed. The fact that the Eden Gardens wicket, unlike the sloppy one at Kotla, suited Shikhar Dhawan's penchant to play his favourite pull shot, the left-handed opener took control of a chase against a quality attack.
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Dhawan remained not out on a career-best 97 (off 63 balls) but it was his ability to bat till the end after skipper Shreyas Iyer left in the sixth over and Rishabh Pant was consumed by impetuosity that made the difference.
THE GAMEPLAN
"Rishabh played according to the situation," Ganguly said in a post-match chat. "We pushed him up at No. 4 to give him more opportunity to bat. He's a great talent, a terrific player and he's only going to get better. We wanted him to stay till the end, and he nearly finished the game for us.
"As for Shikhar, he's one of the best opening batsmen in the world. When he sets he takes the game away. When he plays for India, he bats this way once he gets set. He's a class act, actually. He makes run consistently in the international format. We were desperate for Shikhar once we heard he wanted to leave Sunriser Hyderabad. And now this is the most important phase of the tournament, so good to see him get a big score.
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"Dhawan will always play well in the World Cup. He's excellent in England, has been Man of the Series twice at the Champions Trophy, and he's just a wonderful one-day cricketer," said Ganguly.
Delhi Capitals' (four wins from seven games) next match is against Sunrisers Hyderabad (three wins from six). Shikhar Dhawan will be under a lot of media glare when the teams face off at the Uppal stadium. Both Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting will have to ignite Shikhar 'Gabbar' Dhawan's pride that could give Delhi a daredevil start. Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Delhi in both matches in 2018 but this team is looking far more assured.
DC CONFIDENT LOT
"The KKR win gives us tremendous confidence going into the next match in Hyderabad. It was a clinical performance from the team against a strong team like KKR. I feel that everyone took responsibility and with each game, our thought process is becoming clearer, and our communication is also improving, which is a great sign for the team,” said 24-year-old skipper Iyer.
Shreyas Iyer added that SRH will be under more pressure to perform as they are playing in front of their home crowd.
“It is going to be a home game for them, so the pressure is likely to be more on them to perform and get the two points. However, as for us as a team, our last two results have definitely brought the whole group together, and we are looking to keep the momentum going into this crucial stage of the IPL season,” said Iyer.
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The two teams have faced each other on 13 previous occasions which has seen Sunrisers Hyderabad win nine matches while Delhi has registered only four wins.
