Delhi Capitals (DC) opener Prithvi Shaw was in destructive mode against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as he smashed 82 runs off 41 deliveries. DC defeated KKR by 7 wickets to secure their 5th win of the ongoing IPL 2021 tournament.
DC were chasing 155 runs in 20 overs and Shaw gave them a terrific start with six boundaries in a row off Shivam Mavi in the first over. Mavi wasn't given the ball after the DC opener ripped him apart.
Shaw doesn't look like stopping anytime as he smashed overall 11 fours and 3 sixes in his knock. Former India opener Virender Sehwag lauded the youngster for his batting.
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Sehwag said you need to perfectly find gaps to hit six consecutive fours, something he couldn't do in his career. “Smashing six boundaries off all the six balls means playing every ball through the perfect gap, which is not easy. I’ve opened in my career and had thought of smashing all the six balls so many times. But I got a maximum of 18 or 20 odd runs. I couldn’t hit six boundaries or six sixes. For that you need to be perfect on your timing so that you can find those gaps,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
“Prithvi Shaw was excellent with the bat. He didn’t look as if he has come to play a cricket match. Or maybe he had the confidence of playing with Shivam Mavi in the U-19 team that he knew where the bowler would bowl exactly. I have batted against Ashish Nehra so many times in nets, domestic games but would never be able to hit him for six boundaries in an over. Hats off to Prithvi Shaw for his fantastic innings,” he added.
Sehwag feels Shaw deserved a hundred and he was unfortunate to miss out. “It would have been more exciting if he had got a hundred. He has gone through tough times already. But now, when the runs were coming, he must have scored a hundred or remained unbeaten and finished the chase,” Sehwag concluded.
Shaw had gone through a tough phase but he made a comeback with the bat in domestic cricket and scored 827 runs; becoming the first player to breach the 800-run mark in a Vijay Hazare Trophy season.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
