WDL vs SDS, Review । Ankit Kumar, Krish Yadav unleash batting storm to help WDL stay unbeaten in DPL 2025

South Delhi Superstarz won the toss and decided to bat first, with the openers Kunwar Bidhuri and Sumit Mathur launching a brutal attack on the Lions’ bowling attack in the powerplay. The Bidhuri-Mathur duo left no over without a boundary before Bidhuri ended the six-over mark with two fours and a six. At the end of the powerplay, SDS openers smashed 59/0 before they added 15 more runs in the next two overs. On the first ball of the ninth over, Hrithik Shokeen stopped Kunwar Bidhuri’s fiery knock, getting him caught by Trishant Dabla. Bidhuri scored 42 runs off just 27 balls, with four fours and two sixes. Just 18 runs later in the 11th over, Anirudh Chowdhary dismissed Sumit Mathur (33) to slow down the scoring rate of the Superstarz. Just after two overs, the Superstarz faced two quick blows as Manan Bhardwaj and Anirudh Chowdhary dismissed Tejasvi Dahiya (11) and Anmol Sharma (1) in the 12th and 13th overs, respectively. However, skipper Ayush Badoni held one end strongly amidst a fall of wickets at regular intervals. Taking charge from 113/5, Badoni stitched a 35-run partnership with Abhishek Khandelwal (8), before the latter was caught by Shokeen off Bhagwan Singh in the 18th over. Furthermore, Badoni’s blistering 48-run knock off just 25 balls came to an end in the 19th over. Badoni’s contribution after the brilliant efforts of the openers helped SDS post 185/7 in the allotted 20 overs. Anirudh Chowdhary ended up picking three wickets for 25 runs in his four overs, alongside two crucial wickets of Dahiya and Panchal picked by Manan Bhardwaj.

While chasing the target, the West Delhi Lions’ opening pair of Krish Yadav and Ankit Kumar destroyed the Superstarz’s bowling attack, smashing 158 runs for the first wicket in just 14 overs. Ankit Kumar played a swashbuckling knock of 96 runs off just 46 balls, hitting 11 fours and six sixes, alongside Yadav’s 67 runs off 42 balls, with nine fours and two sixes. The damage had already been done before Sagar Tanwar dismissed Yadav on the last ball of the 14th over. Later in the 16th over, Ankit missed a well-deserved century as he was caught by Manish Sehrawat off Sumit Beniwal’s bowling on the third ball of the over. Skipper Nitish Rana (5-ball 16) and number four batter Ayush Doseja (4) finished things in style for the Lions, taking them to 189/2 in 15.4 overs.

With this win, the West Delhi Lions have registered their second consecutive success in the tournament’s current edition. The Lions are one of the two teams that are unbeaten in the tournament, following the table toppers, the Central Delhi Kings.