NEW DELHI: Priyansh Arya etched his name into history books as he scored the first-ever century in the ongoing Delhi Premier League T20 to help his team South Delhi Superstarz register a memorable 88-run win over Purani Dilli 6 at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.
Arya, who is the tournament’s current leading run scorer, scored an unbeaten 107 not out off 55 balls, featuring nine fours and seven sixes, and powered his team to a mammoth total of 235/3 in 20 overs. In reply, Purani Dilli 6 managed to score only 147/9 in 20 overs as South Delhi Superstarz delivered a disciplined bowling performance.
Digvesh Rati was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with impressive figures of 3/13, while Vision Panchal and impact player Anshuman Hooda took two wickets each. South Delhi Superstarz built on the momentum established by their batters as they defended the total with tight bowling. Kuldip Yadav removed Arpit Rana (29 off 19) on the last ball of the Powerplay, leaving Purani Dilli 6 at 43/1.
Rathi then wreaked havoc as he scalped three wickets in his two consecutive overs. He dismissed Keshav Dalal (15 off 10) and sent skipper Lalit Yadav packing (0 off 1) in the 12th over and removed Arnav Bugga (36 off 37) in the 12th over, reducing Purani Dilli 6 to 90/4.
Vansh Bedi showed resilience with a quickfire 27 off 12 balls but was caught at third man by Sumit Mathur in the 14th over off Vision Panchal. Mayank Gusain (6 off 10) and Sambhav Sharma (0 off 4) were the next to fall in the 15th and 16th overs, respectively. By the final strategic break, Purani Dilli 6 were out of the contest, having lost seven wickets with 123 runs on the board.
Shivam Sharma (6 off 6) was dismissed by Deepanshu Gulia in the 18th over, while Aayush Singh Thakur was removed in the final over by Anshuman Hooda, who bowled a tidy over as South Delhi Superstarz registered a dominating win. After being asked to bat first, South Delhi Superstarz got off to a flying start as openers Sarthak Ray and Priyansh Arya took the team’s total to 52 in the Powerplay. Ray played aggressively, while Arya adopted a more cautious approach. The duo quickly advanced the team’s total to 100.
However, Ray missed out on his half-century by just one run, as he was caught and bowled by Shivam Sharma in the 12th over. In the same over, Arya reached his fifty in 34 balls. Arya then partnered with Ayush Badoni and dominated Purani Dilli 6 bowlers as they scored at a blistering pace.
By the 17th over, Badoni had completed his fifty in just 18 balls, with the team cruising at 184/1. He was dismissed in the following over, but in form, Arya continued towards a big total. He combined with Tejasvi Dahiya to bring up the team’s 200-run mark in the 18th over.
In the penultimate over, Arya brought up his century in just 53 balls. Dahiya contributed a quickfire 18 off 8 before falling in the final over, while Arya’s free-flowing strokes helped South Delhi Superstarz surpass the tournament’s overall highest team total scored by themselves just a day before. For Purani Dilli 6, Prince Yadav scalped two wickets and conceded 41 runs in his four overs.
