New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS): Purani Dilli 6 rode on Lalit Yadav's 46 not out off 29 balls and Prince Yadav's 3-15 to beat Central Delhi Kings by 33 runs in their final league stage match and qualify for the playoffs of the Adani Delhi Premier League T20 at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.
After posting 173/6 in their allotted 20 overs, Purani Dilli 6 came up with a clinical bowling performance to restrict Central Delhi Kings to 140/8 and win the match by 33 runs.
Purani Dilli 6 came out firing to defend a target of 174. They capitalised on the early swing to contain Central Delhi Kings during the Power-play. Prince Yadav drew first blood by dismissing Dhruv Kaushik (2 off 5), and the second wicket came through a run-out, with Central Delhi Kings at 39/2 after six overs.
Lakshay Thareja, who looked in good touch, couldn't build on his start as he was dismissed for 34 off 26 in the ninth over. At the halfway mark, Central Delhi Kings were reduced to 57/3.
Shivam Sharma then removed Hiten Dalal (27 off 25) in the 14th over, with the required run rate climbing above 12. Central Delhi Kings crossed the 100-run mark in the 15th over as they struggled to accelerate the run chase.
Yadav picked up his second wicket of the match as he dismissed impact sub-Aryan Rana (8 off 10) in the 17th over, putting Purani Dilli 6 firmly in control.
Jonty Sidhu brought up his fifty in 31 balls in the 19th over but was caught and bowled in the same over off Yadav, who returned with the figures of 3/16. Ayush Singh Thakur picked up two wickets in the final over to ensure Purani Dilli 6 entered the playoffs with a remarkable win.
Earlier in the contest, Purani Dilli 6 were invited to bat first. They also had a challenging start to their innings as they lost three wickets by the end of the Powerplay with only 38 runs on the board.
Keshav Dalal and Yug Gupta steadied the ship with timely boundaries, but Jonty Sidhu provided a breakthrough to Central Kings as he removed Dalal for 28 off 20 balls in the 11th over.
Gupta, on the other hand, took the team's total to the 100-run mark in 12.2 overs but was dismissed on the very next ball after scoring 44 off 30, thus narrowly missing his fifty. Mayank Gusain (13 off 12) also fell cheaply to Dadar in the 16th over, leaving Purani Dilli 6 at 131/6.
From there, Lalit Yadav took charge as his unbeaten 46 off 29 balls and Sumit Chhikara's 19* off 10 balls guided Purani Dilli 6 to a competitive total of 173/6 in their 20 overs.
Dadar was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with 2-29 in his four overs.
Brief scores:
Purani Dilli 6 173/6 in 20 overs (Lalit Yadav 46*, Yug Gupta 44; Rajneesh Dadar 2-29) beat Central Delhi Kings 140/8 in 20 overs (Jonty Sidhu 52, Lakshay Thareja 34; Prince Yadav 3-15) by 33 runs.