DPL T20: West Delhi Lions edge past North Delhi Strikers by three wickets

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Akhil Chaudhary's 4/20 and Ankit Kumar's blistering 39 off 15 balls powered the West Delhi Lions to a three-wicket victory over the North Delhi Strikers in the third match of the Delhi Premier League T20 at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.

Akhil Chaudhary's 4/20 with the ball set the tone for West Delhi Lions as they restricted North Delhi Strikers to 144/8 in 20 overs. West Delhi Lions then chased down the target in 18.3 overs.

The West Delhi Lions started their chase of 145 with explosive intent as they crossed the 50-run mark in just 3.1 overs, thanks to Ankit Kumar's quick-fire 39 off 15 balls. His innings ended when he was caught and bowled by Anirudh Chowdhary on the very next delivery.

Meanwhile, Shivam Gupta (12 off 8), who had supported Ankit well, was dismissed in the following over by Suyash Sharma, and Anmol Sharma (17 off 18) was trapped LBW by Manan Bhardwaj in the eighth over. Despite losing wickets in quick succession, West Delhi Lions remained in a commanding position at 76/3 after eight overs.

Ekansh Dobal (27 off 24), who came in as an Impact player built a solid partnership of 38 runs off 36 balls with Dev Lakra (13 off 22). However, both Lakra and Dobal were dismissed in the 14th and 15th over respectively, leaving the Lions needing 24 runs from 30 balls.

The North Delhi Strikers managed to take two late wickets in the 18th over, dismissing Hrithik Shokeen (9 off 10) and Tishant Pawan Dabla (4 off 2), but it wasn't enough as the West Delhi Lions chased down the remaining runs with nine balls to spare.

After opting to bowl first, West Delhi Lions bowlers did well to contain the North Delhi Strikers from scoring big. By the end of the powerplay, the North Delhi Strikers were 48/2, having lost Sarthak Ranjan (1 off 6) and Yash Dabas (10 off 11). Vaibhav Kandpal had gotten a decent start but was trapped LBW by Hrithik Shokeen after scoring 29 off 22 balls.

With 50/3 after seven overs, Yash Bhatia and Vaibhav Rawal steadied the ship with timely boundaries as they constructed a crucial partnership of 74 runs in 55 deliveries, bringing the team's total to the 100-run mark in the 14th over.

As the Strikers attempted to accelerate, Rawal was dismissed in the 16th over for 36 off 29 balls. His partner Bhatia followed in the next over, scoring 37 off 28, leaving North Delhi struggling at 126/5 after 17 overs.

From there on, West Delhi Lions were in the driving seat, scalping three quick wickets. Pranshu Vijayran (3 off 8) fell cheaply in the 18th over to Navdeep Saini. Akhil Chaudhary, who had earlier removed Ranjan and Bhatia, finished his quote with impressive figures of 4/20, dismissing Siddhant Sharma (6 off 3) and Pranav Rajvanshi (1 off 3) in the 19th over. Saini bowled a tight last over as West Delhi Lions restricted North Delhi Strikers to 144/8 in 20 overs.

Brief scores:

North Delhi Strikers 144 for 8 in 20 overs (Yash Bhatia 37 off 28, Vaibhav Rawal 36 off 29, Akhil Chaudhary 4-20) lost to West Delhi Lions 150 for 7 in 18.3 overs (Ankit Kumar 39, Ekansh Dobal 27, Anirudh Chowdhary 2-25) by three wickets.

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