Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan on Sunday surpassed Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli to register an elusive feat in the history of the Indian Premier League during the IPL 2021 game against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, although he missed out on a well-deserved IPL ton, scoring 92 runs off 49 balls.
Scoring his half-century off 31 balls, Dhawan surpassed Kohli to register the most fifty-plus scores in IPL history by an Indian. It was his 43rd fifty in IPL, which adds to his two centuries in the tournament taking his tally to 45 fifty-plus scores, one more than Kohli's tally. Only Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner has more fifty-plus scores in IPL with a tally of 53 - 49 fifties and four centuries.
En route to the knock, he leapfrogged Rohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians and Warner to become the third-highest run-getter in IPL history. He now only stands behind Kohli's tally of 5949 and Suresh Raina, who has amassed 5430 runs. He now has 5383 runs in 179 IPL matches at 34.95
Dhawan's 92, laced with 13 boundaries and two sixes, came in reply to Punjab Kings' 195/4, who were put to bat first after Rishabh Pant won the toss.
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal scored a 122-run stand for the first wicket before quickfire cameos from Deepak Hooda and Shahrukh Khan helped Punjab set a target of 196.
Delhi started on a positive note with openers Dhawan and Prithi Shaw scoring a 59-run stand before pulling off a 47-run stand alongside Steve Smith, who only contributed 9 runs in the partnership.
