NDT vs EDR, Review । Arpit Rana, Rounak Waghela script seven-wicket win for East Delhi Riders against New Delhi Tigers

After opting to bat first, the New Delhi Tigers’ opening pair of Shivam Gupta and Dhruv Kaushik started with an aggressive approach. Gupta scored eight runs off Navdeep Saini’s first over, followed by Akhil Chaudhary’s maiden over against Dhruv Kaushik in the second over. But the next three overs saw the redemption by Gupta and Kaushik for that maiden over. Gupta smashed a four and a six to get 13 runs in the third over, bowled by Saini. Gupta’s momentum was carried by Kaushik in the next over as he managed to hit a four and a six off Chaudhary to take the Tigers’ score to 33 runs at the end of the fourth over. By the end of the powerplay, the Gupta-Kaushik duo had smashed 49 runs. This amazing partnership was broken by the Riders’ left-arm orthodox spinner Rounak Waghela in the seventh over. Gupta (38) and Kaushik (24) laid a strong foundation for their side, scoring 57 runs for the first wicket in 7.3 overs, but both of them were dismissed in quick succession. Their efforts were followed by the 33-run partnership for the third wicket between skipper Himmat Singh and Aryan Dalal, with the former scoring 24 runs off 17 balls. After Himmat’s departure, Dalal (31*) stayed in the middle till the end, stitching crucial partnerships with the middle-order batters. When Deepak Punia joined Aryan, the Tigers scored 115/4 in 15.3 overs, then came a swashbuckling knock played by Punia. He smashed 41 runs off just 15 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes. It also included the 19th over, in which Punia smashed 16 runs with one six and two fours before falling prey to Saini. On the back of these contributions, New Delhi Tigers posted 172/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Waghela ended up with the most economical figures (3/18 in four overs) for the Riders, alongside a wicket each picked by his fellows, Saini, Chaudhary, and Mayank Rawat. 

While chasing the target, Sujal Singh and Arpit Rana stitched a quick partnership of 39 runs in 4.3 overs for the first wicket. It ended when Singh was caught by Keshav Dalal off Pankaj Jaiswal’s bowling in the fifth over, after scoring 26 runs off 19 balls, with four fours and a six. Following him, Rana made another crucial partnership of 47 runs for the second wicket with Hardik Sharma, who played a quick, fiery knock of 30 runs off just 12 balls, smashing five fours and a six. His knock, alongside Rana’s contribution, included a brutal attack on Pankaj Jaiswal, Parth Bali, and Aatrey Tripathi, as the batting duo smashed 49 runs in just three overs from the fifth to the seventh over of the innings. Rana was joined by skipper Anuj Rawat after Hardik’s dismissal in the eighth over. Rawat’s brief contribution came to an early end (9-ball 16). Furthermore, Rana and Mayank Rawat stitched an unbeaten and match-winning partnership of 55 runs for the fourth wicket to chase the target comfortably for the Riders, scoring 174/3 in 18.2 overs. Arpit Rana ended up with the unbeaten knock of 63 runs off 44 balls, with six fours and two sixes, alongside Mayank’s unbeaten 32 (26). Skipper Himmat Singh was the only one to scalp two wickets for 26 runs in his three overs.

East Delhi Riders’ Rounak Waghela won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his tight spell, in which he bagged three wickets for just 18 runs in his four overs.