KXIP vs DC: Shikhar Dhawan enters history books with 2nd IPL century

Delhi Capitals (DC) batsman Shikhar Dhawan scored his second century of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 and also completed 5,000 runs in the tournament on Tuesday.

Dhawan was also the first very cricketer to register a century in two successive innings in the IPL. Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler and Chennai Super Kings' Shane Watson are the only two batsmen to have scored 90+ runs in two back-to-back innings in the tournament: Watson (101, 98* - 2013) and Buttler (95*, 94* - 2018).

He claimed the landmark of 5,000 runs during his side's match against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. He was the fifth player to have entered the 5,000-club after Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, and David Warner.

Dhawan achieved the milestone in the 13th over of DC's first innings on Tuesday. It was the third delivery of the over, which was bowled by young Ravi Bishnoi, and Dhawan slog-swept it over deep square leg for a six to reach the 5,000-mark in the IPL.

The 34-year-old recently recorded his maiden IPL century, which happened during DC's recent IPL 2020 game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday.

Having opened the innings for DC o Tuesday, Dhawan led from the front and reached the triple-digit mark in the 19th over, which was bowled by KXIP's 21-year-old medium-pacer Arshdeep Singh. Dhawan struck the delivery to the deep backward point and ran for a double to complete a well deserving century. With the century, Dhawan now is the only DC batsman to have scored multiple centuries in the IPL.

Dhawan remained unbeaten on 106 from 61 balls and powered DC to 164 for 5 in 20 overs. The Delhi opener scored at a strike-rate of over 170 as he hammered three sixes and 12 fours. While Dhawan struck to the crease at one end, the wicket kept falling on regular intervals on the other. After Dhawan, the joint-second highest scorers for DC on Tuesday were Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer who scored 14 runs each. While Prithvi Shaw got out for seven from 11 deliveries, Marcus Stoinis managed a 10-ball nine, and Shimron Hetmyer scored a six-ball 10.

Earlier, DC captain Iyer won the toss and opted to bat. With seven wins in nine matches, DC are currently at the top of the IPL 2020 table, while KXIP are placed seventh with three victories in nine games.