Yash Dhull leads Central Delhi Kings to thrilling chase after Anuj Rawat's century

New Delhi: The third season of the Delhi Premier League (DPL) cricket began in grand fashion at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday, with an entertaining opening ceremony followed by Purani Dilli 6 captain Anuj Rawat's unbeaten century powering his side to a formidable total against Central Delhi Kings.

The evening opened with musical performances by singers Sukhbir Singh and Sunanda Sharma before the cricketing action took centre stage. Put in to bat, Purani Dilli 6 suffered an early setback, slipping to 30/3 within the first five overs.

Rawat then anchored the recovery with a match-defining 132-run fourth-wicket stand alongside Dev Lakra. Lakra contributed a fluent 53 off 37 balls, while Rawat produced a captain's knock, remaining unbeaten on 105 from 59 deliveries, an innings studded with 11 boundaries and five sixes.

The left-hander enjoyed a slice of fortune when he was dropped on 99 before reaching his century off the very next delivery. His innings, coupled with Lakra's timely half-century, lifted Purani Dilli 6 to 202/4 in their allotted 20 overs after a shaky start.

Sukhbir and Sunanda Sharma performed at the opening ceremony

In reply, Central Delhi Kings made a flying start as openers Yash Dhull and Siddharth Joon added 65 runs in just 4.5 overs. Purani Dilli 6 finally broke the stand when Rajneesh Dadar dismissed Joon for 23 off 14 balls, with Pankaj Jaswal taking the catch.

Dhull continued to dominate and stitched together another 32-run stand with Yugal Saini, who was run out for 22 off 16 balls. The Kings suffered another setback soon after as Jonty Sidhu departed for a duck, but Dhull kept the chase on track with an impressive half-century.

Rajeev Shukla (left) was felicitated at the opening ceremony 

The Central Delhi skipper eventually fell for a superb 72 off 45 balls. Pankaj Jaswal surprised him with a short delivery, and Dhull's attempted upper cut found Rajneesh Dadar at short third man. Vansh Bedi played a quick cameo of 28 off 13 balls, but his dismissal left the Kings needing a strong finish.

With the pressure mounting, Keshav Dabas held his nerves and produced a crucial cameo. He struck two boundaries off the final two balls of the penultimate over to reduce the equation to just three runs from the last over. Jasvir Sehrawat then calmly hit the winning runs, guiding Central Delhi Kings to a thrilling four-wicket victory and handing them a winning start to the DPL 2026 campaign.

Tags : Yash Dhull, Anuj Rawat, Sukhbir Singh, Sunanda Sharma, Delhi Premier League, cricket