PD6 vs WDL, Review | Ayush Doseja's century goes in vain as Purani Delhi 6 beat West Delhi Lions by 15 runs

West Delhi Lions won the toss and asked Purani Delhi 6 to bat first. PD6 openers Aarush Malhotra and Samarth Seth started in a blistering style, smashing three fours in the first over of the innings off Bhangwan Singh to make it a 16-run over. However, Malhotra’s early fireworks (21 off just eight balls) came to an early end in the second over after he smashed a six and a four off Anirudh Chowdhary on the third ball of the over. PD6 had scored 27 runs in just 1.3 overs when Malhotra went back to the pavilion. His departure was followed by a steady 34-run partnership between Seth and Vansh Bedi. The duo took the team’s score to 60 at the end of the powerplay, including important 10 and 13 runs scored in the third and fourth overs. Bedi kept holding one end while Seth continued hitting some big shots. However, the star WDL spinner Hrithik Shokeen broke this partnership by dismissing in a ‘caught and bowled’ dismissal at the individual score of 19 (17). PD6 faced another blow in quick succession as they lost Pranav Pant (3) cheaply in an unfortunate run-out dismissal. But then came a match-winning and stabilising partnership of 55 runs for the fourth wicket between Seth and Dev Lakra before the former’s valiant knock of 52 (36) came to an end in the 15th over. Lakra continued carrying the stroke-hitting in his brilliant knock of 47 runs off just 31 balls, with four fours and two sixes. He also made a crucial 49-run stand with Ekansh Dobal for the sixth wicket. Dobal’s late strike of 20 runs off just 11 balls also played a vital role in taking PD6 to reach the total of 186/6 in the allotted 20 overs. WDL’s Shubham Dubey picked the two big wickets, Dev Lakra and Samarth Seth, to stop PD6 from reaching a 200+ total.

West Delhi Lions’ run chase was left in jeopardy as they lost both their openers, Krish Yadav (12) and Ankit Kumar (0), at the team score of just 13 runs in 1.5 overs. After two early blows, star number three batter Ayush Doseja led the counterattack, having Naman Tiwari at the other end. After a cautious third over, Doseja launched a brutal attack on Aayush Singh in the fourth over, smashing 24 runs with three fours and two sixes. Doseja’s lethal approach continued in the fifth over, in which he smashed two fours off Lalit Yadav. The fiery 51-run partnership for the third wicket between Doseja and Tiwari came to an end in the eighth over when the latter fell prey to Pardeep Parashar after scoring just five runs off 12 balls. Doseja continued his counterattack with a 46-run partnership with Nitish Rana. Once again, this partnership was also dominated by Doseja before Rana was dismissed after scoring just 15 (14). Doseja kept charging against the PD6 bowlers and completed his century in the 16th over with a four off Pardeep Parashar to sweeper cover. Doseja’s brilliant knock came to an end in the 17th over when he was caught by Dev Lakra off Rajneesh Dadar’s bowling on the fourth ball of the 17th over. However, his century went in vain due to a middle-order collapse, and West Delhi Lions fell short of the target, scoring only 171/8 in the entire 20 overs.

Dadar won the ‘Player of the Match’ for his brilliant bowling (2/19 in just four overs), including the big wicket of centurion Ayush Doseja following opener Ankit Kumar on a duck.