AI Simulation, NDT vs CDK | Himmat Singh’s captaincy knock guides Tigers to beat Kings by five wickets

Pitch and Weather

It was a flat surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi that helped the batters mostly in the second half of the game. The dew factor also played a crucial role in making things comfortable for the chasing side.

The weather in Delhi was a bit cloudy, with the temperature hovering around 30 degrees Celsius. There was also a bit of humidity in the first half of the game. However, the rain didn’t interrupt throughout the game.

Toss

Central Delhi Kings won the toss and elected to bat first.

Lineups

NDT XI: Shivam Gupta(w), Lakshay Thareja, Himmat Singh(c), Dhruv Kaushik, Deepak Punia, Parth Bali, Pankaj Jaswal, Prince Yadav, Rahul Chaudhary, Aatrey Tripathi, Pradyuman Sanan.

CDK XI: Yash Dhull, Siddharth Joon(w), Yugal Saini, Jonty Sidhu(c), Aditya Bhandari, Jasvir Sehrawat, Pranshu Vijayran, Arun Pundir, Tejas Baroka, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal.

Match Report

After opting to bat first, the Central Delhi Kings had an opening start of 20 runs in 3.4 overs, which was mainly led by Siddharth Joon (19), who was caught by Himmat Singh off Pankaj Jaswal’s bowling in the fourth over. Yugal Saini (7) couldn’t stay long in the middle, and he was dismissed in the sixth over at the team score of 39 runs. He was beaten for pace, failing to misjudge a sharp yorker. Following these two dismissals, a 63-run partnership for the third wicket between opener Yash Dhull and skipper Jonty Sidhu stabilised the Kings’ innings. Dhull led the charge with some brilliant boundaries, accompanied by Sidhu's (36) steady approach. Dhull’s brilliant knock came to an end in the 12th over when a thin edge went to the wicketkeeper Shivam Gupta off Pradyuman Sanan’s delivery. He scored 48 runs off 35 balls, with six fours and a six. Later in the innings, Jasvir Sehrawat’s contribution of 22 runs off 13 balls helped the Kings post 164/8 in the allotted 20 overs. Jaswal ended up with brilliant bowling figures of 3/27 in his four overs, alongside two wickets picked by Aatrey Tripathi, conceding 28 runs in his quota of four overs.

Shivam Gupta and Lakshay Thareja were off to a blistering start to initiate an amazing run chase for New Delhi Tigers. They added 31 runs in just 4 overs before Thareja (16) miscued a lofted shot towards mid-on region, getting caught by Pranshu Vijayran off Simarjeet Sigh. Gupta stitched a 24-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Himmat Singh. This partnership came to an end when Gupta was caught by Aditya Bhandari of Tejas Baroka in the seventh over. He scored 28 runs off 20 balls, with four fours and a six. Himmat Singh was joined by Dhruv Kaushik, and the former dominated this 44-run partnership for the third wicket, with some amazing fours and sixes. Kaushik (12) was dismissed in the 12th over, when his inside edge went straight into the stumps off Money Grewal’s bowling. After Kaushik’s departure, Himmat added another decisive and match-winning partnership of 53 runs for the fourth wicket with Deepak Punia. Himmat was dismissed in the 17th over, after almost completing his job with an outstanding knock of 62 runs off 42 balls, with six fours and two sixes. Later, Deepak (21) and Parth Bali’s unbeaten 15 runs off 11 balls helped the Tigers comfortably chase the target in 18.3 overs, scoring 168/5. With this win, the Tigers have also moved to the fourth spot in the tournament standings, surpassing the South Delhi Superstarz.

Player of the Match

New Delhi Tigers’ Himmat Singh was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ award for his match-winning knock of 62 runs off 42 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes. His two match-winning partnerships with Dhruv Kaushik and Deepak Punia played a central role in his side’s five-wicket win.

Scorecard