IPL 2020: Shikhar Dhawan Hails "Great Asset" Axar Patel After Thrilling Win Over Chennai Super Kings

After registering a thrilling five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Delhi Capitals' opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan hailed Axar Patel's performance with both bat and ball and labelled the all-rounder as a "great asset". Delhi Capitals (DC) chased down a total of 180 with five wickets in hand and one ball to spare. Shikhar Dhawan scored his maiden century in IPL and he remained unbeaten on 101. With this win, Delhi has now gone to the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) standings with 14 points from nine games.

Delhi needed 17 runs off the final over and Axar Patel smashed three sixes in the over bowled by Ravindra Jadeja to hand the Shreyas Iyer-led side a victory.

Axar also returned figures of 0 for 23 from his four overs. Talking about Axar, Dhawan said: "Axar Patel has been a great asset. Whenever we demand good overs from him, he does the job. He is normally very economical. Having a quality all-rounder makes a big difference.

"It is a great feeling, the best thing is that we are playing very good cricket, everyone is doing their job and it is a great sign for us.

"We all stay hungry and we make sure that we focus on the process, we guys make sure that we stay fresh as well and not overdo things in practice," he added.

Dhawan admitted that the Sharjah wicket was on the slower side. "We knew that the wicket was slow, when they were batting, we got to know about that. Our plan was to make use of the first six overs," said Dhawan.

"Unfortunately, we lost two wickets, we knew we were chasing a big target so we had to score regular boundaries and we all did a great job.

"180 was a good score, that's why the match went till the end. The ball was not coming on to the bat, it was stopping a bit," he added.

Speaking about this innings, Dhawan said: "I was always focussing on my process. I was playing well, I was staying positive and confident, (and) I have a great deal of experience behind me.

"I was analysing what shots to bring in and especially with experience, I pick and choose what shots to play at what situation.

"Sam Curran bowled very well in the 19th over, his yorker execution was very good. Dew was also there so we took an advantage of that as well.

"We knew Bravo would not be able to bowl the last over and it would be bowled by Jadeja. We (him and Axar Patel, who played the last over) being left-handers, we had a certain advantage against Jadeja," he added.

Batting first, CSK posted a total of 179/4 in the allotted 20 overs. Faf du Plessis (58) and Ambati Rayudu (45*) starred with the bat for the MS Dhoni-led side.

In the end, Ravindra Jadeja also played a cameo of 33 runs off just 13 balls to take CSK's total past the 170-run mark. 
For Delhi Capitals, Anrich Nortje was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with figures of 2 for 44 from his four overs.

CSK will next take on Rajasthan Royals on Monday, October 19 while Delhi Capitals will play Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday, October 20.

Topics mentioned in this article

Delhi Capitals Shikhar Dhawan Axar Patel IPL 2020 Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings, Match 34 Cricket