North Delhi outclass South Delhi by 61 runs to keep DPL campaign alive

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Yash Dabas and Vaibhav Rawal struck fifties while Siddhartha Solanki took five wickets to propel North Delhi Strikers to a 61-run win over South Delhi Superstarz, keeping them afloat in the Delhi Premier League here on Sunday.

Dabas’ 68 off 40 balls and Rawal’s unbeaten 56 off 34 balls powered North Delhi to a healthy 209 for four in 20 overs.

Solanki then grabbed 5 for 19 as the Strikers bowled out the Superstarz, who are already qualified to the knockouts, for 148.

The Superstarz began their run chase of 210 at a blistering pace.

Priyansh Arya, who had a memorable innings on Saturday against the same opponents, couldn’t replicate his performance and was dismissed for 26 off nine balls in the third over by impact substitute Solanki.

Kunwar Bidhuri then took charge of the chase, and he combined with Saurabh Deswal to take the team’s total to 85/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

Solanki then wreaked havoc as he scalped as many as four wickets in quick succession to complete his five-wicket haul.

He dismissed Deswal (16 off 11), Tejaswi Dahiya (0 off 1), Bidhuri (42 off 21) and Tarun Bisht (3 off 7), reducing Superstarz to 101/5 after nine overs.

It effectively sealed the match in favour of North Delhi.

Earlier, openers Vaibhav Kandpal and Sarthak Ranjan got South Delhi off to a flying start as they were 53 for no loss by the fifth over.

However, Raghav Singh provided the Superstarz with a much-needed breakthrough, dismissing both openers, Ranjan (28 off 20) and Kandpal (24 off 13), in the sixth over.

Dabas and Rawal continued the aggressive approach as they kept the scoreboard ticking at a quick pace.

Their partnership helped the team cross the 100-run mark in 11.5 overs. Dabas reached his fifty in 33 balls in the 15th over, with the Strikers comfortably positioned at 146/2.

Dabas, however, was dismissed for 68 off 40 by Divij Mehra.

Rawal, who completed his fifty in 33 balls in the 19th over, smashed a flurry of boundaries in the final two overs.

Brief Scores: North Delhi Strikers: 209/4 in 20 overs (Yash Dabas 68, Vaibhav Rawal 56 not out; Divij Mehra 2/44, Raghav Singh 2/44) beat South Delhi Superstarz: 148 all out in 16 overs (Kunwar Bidhuri 42; Siddhartha Solanki 5/19) by 61 runs.