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The ongoing edition of the T20 league - the Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2025 has reached its penultimate stage with Nitish Rana-led West Delhi Lions eliminating the South Delhi Superstarz in the second of double-header Friday on August 29 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The West Delhi Lions registered a convincing seven-wicket win over the Tejasvi Dahiya’s side.
For the unversed, Nitish Rana won the toss and elected to bowl first. Thus inviting the South Delhi Superstarz to bat first, on the back of a 39-ball 55 from Anmol Sharma and a 33-ball 60 from the skipper, the side posted 201 at the loss of five wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. For the Rana & Co., Hrithik Shokeen picked up two wickets whereas Shubham Dubey, Shivank Vashisht and Anirudh Chowdhary got one apiece. In reply, chasing a mammoth target ina do-or-die clash was all what was required to stay alive and Nitish Rana stood out.
Nitish Rana brings out Digvesh Rathi’s trademark celebration after hitting him for a six; gets into war of words
The skipper played an unbeaten 55-ball 134 to guide his side over the finish line. But during his innings, he also got into a war of words with Digvesh Rathi, who hogged limelight with his fiery notebook celebration in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The controversy erupted when Digvesh Rathi stopped his bowling action while Rana was about to play a sweep shot.
The left-hander didn’t look pleased with Rathi’s antics and decided to smack the bowler. In the very next delivery, Rana walked away from the stumps and told “Chal dalta reh chal”. The RR batter then went on to reverse sweep the next ball for a six and followed it by bringing out the Lucknow bowler’s trademark celebration with his bat. This didn’t end here as the two exchanged a few words.
While the tempers flared at the Arun Jaitley Stadium during the Eliminator on Friday evening, players from both the teams also intervened. Later, umpires too walked in to separate the two players. Earlier in the same match, Sumit Mathur and Krish Yadav too got into the heat of the moment.
Watch video of Nitish Rana and Digvesh Rathi’s heated exchange here:
While it was an expensive outing for Digvesh Rathi, who conceded 39 runs in his two overs, it wasn’t the day for his side as they have been knocked out of the tournament. However, Nitish Rana’s West Delhi Lions will now lock horns with East Delhi Riders on Saturday, August 30 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi in Qualifier 2 and the winner of the match will see Central Delhi Kings in the summit clash on Sunday, August 31.
