The match at Feroz Shah Kotla featured the teams ranked three and four on the points table, thus the stakes were pretty high. Punjab batted first and scored 163 in their 20 overs and in response, Delhi made a solid start to reach 108 runs for the loss of the solitary wicket of young Prithvi Shaw in the 13th over.
After two balls of the over had been bowled, Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer was on strike and Ashwin was the bowler. The skipper of KXIP, instead of delivering the ball, stopped his run-up immediately as reached the popping crease, gave a glance at an advancing Dhawan at the non-striker's end and went back to the start of his mark to bowl the next delivery. This was the second non-verbal warning of the match for Dhawan as he had earlier wandered well outside his crease in the 12th over. On that occasion, Murugan Ashwin warned the Delhi batsman.
Dhawan, not one to back away from a challenge, proceeded to do a stretch after planting his bat inside the crease as Ashwin returned to his bowling mark. But what took the cake and got a massive applause was when the Delhi batsman pulled out some of his nightclub moves. As Ashwin was delivering the third ball of the over, Dhawan -- with bat inside the crease at the non-striker's end -- gyrated his hips and shook his entire body with eyes fixed on the bowler.
"That was great to watch, the crowd also joining in. They are watching all this -- fun games," said Sanjay Manjrekar on commentary as fellow commentator Lisa Sthalekar could be heard laughing hysterically in the background. "This is a nice little byplay between the two. But you can sense that this is a crucial moment [in the match]. Yeah, he [Dhawan's] not going to make the mistake [of leaving his crease] again," said Sthalekar. "He's done a twist from the '60s," concluded Manjrekar as replays of Dhawan's odd, yet adorable, dance moves were shown in the replays.
Dhawan played a handy knock of 56 in the match as he helped Delhi chase down the score with two balls to spare. The India international was dismissed by Hardus Viljoen and incidentally, it was Ashwin who took a fantastic catch, running to his left. After Dhawan's dismissal, it was skipper Shreyas Iyer who took charge and saw his side home courtesy a man of the match performance.
With that victory, Delhi moved to 12 points from 10 games and consolidated their third-place position on the points table. The capital franchise will face Rajasthan Royals in their next game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 22.
