New Delhi : East Delhi Riders made history after being crowned as the champions of the inaugural edition of Delhi Premier League (DPL) T20 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
A late assault from Mayank Rawat including seven fours and six sixes, powered the East Delhi Riders to 183/5 while three wicket hauls from Simarjeet Singh and Raunak Waghela ensured a thrilling 3-run victory against the South Delhi Superstarz.
The South Delhi Superstarz faltered early in the run chase. Despite being on course with their run rate, they lost the dangerous duo of Priyansh Arya (6 off 2) and Ayush Badoni (7 off 5) to Bhagwan Singh and Simarjeet Singh, respectively. Impact player Kunwar Bidhuri (22 off 19) was also caught and bowled by Mayank Rawat to finish the powerplay at 57/3.
Sumit Mathur (18 off 15) was the next batsman to go after he constructed a 22-run partnership with Tejaswi Dahiya. Dahiya was in fine form, completing a half century, while Mayank Gupta (1 off 8) and Dhruv Singh (1 off 2) perished cheaply.
Vision Panchal ignited for a nine-ball 25 with three sixes and a four but was dismissed by Raunak Waghela to leave South Delhi Superstarz at 109/7 in 13.5 overs.
With Tejaswi Dahiya regularly finding the boundary, the South Delhi Superstarz needed 26 runs off 12 balls. Dahiya launched a maximum off Simarjeet in the penultimate over but was removed two balls later. In the final over, Digvesh Rathi (21* off 16) hit a six and two fours, but South Delhi Superstarz finished short at 180/9 in 20 overs.
Choosing to bat first, the East Delhi Riders lost both openers in the powerplay; Anuj Rawat (10 off 15) was pinged on the pads by Raghav Singh while Sujal Singh (5 off 6) was removed by Kuldip Yadav to leave East Delhi Riders at 27/2 in 4.5 overs.
Himmat Singh (20 off 20) and Hardik Sharma (21 of 16) briefly steadied the ship with a 24 run partnership. Neither batsman converted their start as Raghav Singh returned to scalp Himmat Singh, and Hardik Sharma was accounted for by Dhruv Rathi, before the 10 over mark.
Mayank Rawat (78* off 39) ramped up the intensity and combined with Kavya Gupta (16 off 12) for a 47 run partnership in 35 balls. Kavya Gupta became Kuldip Yadav's second wicket of the night to leave East Delhi Riders at 116/5 in 15.4 overs.
Mayank Rawat steered the East Delhi Riders through the death overs, bringing up a 34-ball half century. Supported by Harsh Tyagi (17 off 12) at the other end, MayankRawat tore into Ayush Badoni in the final over, smashing five sixes (6,0,6,6,6,6) to propel East Delhi Riders to 183/5 in 20 overs.