Central Delhi Kings hold nerve to knock out defending champions West Delhi Lions

New Delhi: Central Delhi Kings held their nerve in a high-scoring thriller to beat West Delhi Lions by 21 runs in the Delhi Premier League, knocking the defending champions out of the tournament.

Central Delhi are on top of the table with 18 points from 10 matches.

Batting first, Central Delhi Kings posted a mammoth 232/8 in 20 overs, with their top and middle order producing some excellent strokeplay.

Opener Siddharth Joon continued his impressive run of form, smashing 33 off just 17 balls. Samarth Singh then added further momentum with a quickfire 37 off 14 deliveries.

However, it was Money Grewal who provided the biggest push towards the end of the innings. Grewal played a blistering knock of 42 off just 16 balls, helping Central Delhi Kings finish with a huge total of 232 at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

For West Delhi Lions, Manan Bhardwaj was the standout bowler, picking up three wickets. However, he conceded 37 runs in his four overs.

Chasing 233, West Delhi Lions made a flying start, reaching 71/2 in just 4.5 overs. The Lions then suffered another setback with the dismissal of Aaryavir Sehwag.

Krish Yadav and Ankit Kumar steadied the innings and launched a counter-attack, putting together a valuable 59-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Their partnership gave West Delhi Lions hope of pulling off a challenging chase.

However, Tejas Baroka broke the stand by dismissing Krish Yadav for a well-made 46 off 26 balls. Yadav's dismissal put the Lions under pressure, but Ankit continued to keep his team in the hunt with some aggressive batting.

Ankit eventually fell for a brilliant 61 off 30 balls, leaving West Delhi Lions in a difficult position with the required run rate climbing.

The Lions could not maintain the momentum in the final overs and eventually finished on 211/8 in their 20 overs, falling 21 runs short of the target.

Central Delhi Kings' disciplined finish with both bat and ball ensured they walked away with a hard-fought victory in a thrilling high-scoring encounter.

Tags : Siddharth Joon, Money Grewal, Manan Bhardwaj, Aaryavir Sehwag, DPL