DPL: Vaibhav Kandpal upstages Dhruv Kaushik as North Delhi triumph

Left-handed batsman Vaibhav Kandpal blitzed his way to 60 off 35 balls, hammering five sixes, to power North Delhi Strikers (NDS) to a seven-wicket win over Central Delhi Kings (CDK) in a Delhi Premier League T20 match on Monday night at the Ferozeshah Kotla grounds of the Arun Jaitley Stadium. His ensured that CDK batsman Dhruv Kaushik’s innings of 63 off 34 balls went in vain. 

Kandpal, who opened the innings, saw to it that his team came within 28 runs of CDK’s 175 before he was dismissed. He built regular partnerships with his teammates – 23 with Sarthak Ranjan (10), 81 with Yash Dabas (56) and 43 with Yash Bhatia (16) to put his side on track.

“Our plan was to encash the powerplay, so we wanted to convert the loose balls into boundaries. The moment the powerplay ended, we reached a respectable total,” said Kandpal to www.thedelhijunction.com after the match.

“My plan was to take it as far as possible. Long partnership helped us.”

His six over point off a waist-high no-ball from Prince Chaudhary was eye-catching.

The pitch also played well, helping Kandpal and his fellow batsmen coast to the target. This was the fourth match on the same pitch and there was not much signs of wear and tear.

“Teams chasing haven’t faced difficulty, so it is clear that the wicket has been good,” added Kandpal.

Dabas was the other performer for NDS, scoring his 56 off 33 balls with four fours and four sixes. He got a life when Sumit Kumar dropped him on the boundary and the ball bounced over the rope.

Earlier, CDK skipper Yash Dhull (11) failed to convert his start into a big score after Hiten Dalal and Kaushik had provided a strong start, adding 31 for the first wicket in 4.3 overs.

It was left to Jonty Sidhu (42 off 28) and Kaushik to set the platform with a 59-run partnership for the third wicket.

After Sidhu’s dismissal at the start of the 18th over with the team score at 153, CDK lost their way before 13 runs in the last over took them to 175/5 in 20 overs.

“We bowled in an indisciplined manner. Batting was doing well. But we didn’t bowl in the right areas. Never thought about setting a target, we wanted to play till end,” said a disappointed Kaushik after the match.

Both Kandpal and Kaushik called the DPL a great opportunity for budding youngsters to get noticed.

Brief scores

Central Delhi Kings 175/5 in 20 overs (Dhruv Kaushik 63, Jonty Sidhu 42, Suyash Sharma 2/35) lost to North Delhi Strikers 177/3 in 18.1 overs (Vaibhav Kandpal 60, Yash Dabas 56, Yash Bhatia 34) by seven wickets.

Tags : Delhi Premier League, Cricket, Vaibhav Kandpal, Dhruv Kaushil, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Ferozeshah Kotla, North Delhi Strikers, Central Delhi Kings