Chasing 198 runs, Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya scored remarkable half-centuries to help South Delhi Superstars win the Delhi Premier League T20 opener.

New Delhi: South Delhi superstars powered to remarkable half-centuries from captain Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya as South Delhi superstars cruised to a three-wicket victory over Old Delhi 6 in the first match of the inaugural edition of the Delhi Premier League T20 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday. Arpit Rana's 41-ball 59 and Vansh Bedi's 19-ball 47 helped Old Delhi 6 post 197/3 in 20 overs, with the South Delhi superstar chasing down the target in 19.1 overs. The South Delhi superstar got off to a flying start chasing 198 runs.

The free-flowing strokes of openers Priyansh Arya and Sarthak Ray led them to a whopping 73 runs in the Powerplay. Ray, who scored 41 off 26 balls, was caught by Shivam Sharma in the seventh over, while Arya completed his fifty off 27 balls in the 12th over.

In the same over, skipper Ayush Badoni, who had made a cautious start to his innings, hit four consecutive sixes off Ankit Bhadana to take the team's total to 140/1. After a 30-ball 57 with three fours and four sixes, Arya was caught off Sharma's bowling to Arpit Rana in the next over.

Dhruv Singh (1 off 2 balls) then fell cheaply to Prince Yadav, while Badoni completed his half-century off 25 balls in the 14th over, needing 38 off 36 balls. However, the momentum changed dramatically as Old Delhi 6 took four wickets in quick succession.

Badoni (29-ball 57) and Tejashwi (1-ball 0) were dismissed in the 15th over, Kunwar Bidhuri (5 off 7 balls) in the 17th over and Sumit Mathur (9 off 10 balls) in the 18th over, which South Delhi needed. 13 runs in the last two overs.

Vijan Panchal and Digwesh Rathi then showed some resilience as they chased down the target with five balls to spare. At the start of the tournament, Old Delhi 6 were invited to bat first and suffered an early shock when Manjeet (13 off 8 balls) was dismissed in the third over.

Divij Mehra got the South Delhi superstar through, Kunwar Bidhuri took a sharp diving catch at short third man. Despite the early shock, Arpit Rana and star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant took control of the innings as they guided Old Delhi to 58/1 from 6 by the end of the Powerplay.

Rana batted fluently to complete his half-century off 37 balls in the 11th over, while Pant played a supporting role. Both of them helped the team reach the 100 run mark in the 13th over. However, Rana (59 off 41 balls) was dismissed in Badoni's same over. Soon after, Pant dismissed Kunwar Bidhuri for 35 off 32 balls in the 15th over.

With Old Delhi 6 at 129/3 after 15 overs, Vansh Bedi and Lalit Yadav stepped up as they smashed fours in the death overs and added a whopping 79 runs off 34 balls. Bedi's 19-ball 47 not out and Yadav's 21-ball 34 helped Old Delhi to 6 runs as they posted an impressive 197/3 in the allotted 20 overs.