Skipper Himmat Singh and Mayank Rawat put on an unbeaten 122-run partnership to lead East Delhi Riders to a six-wicket victory over North Delhi Strikers.

New Delhi: Captain Himmat Singh and Mayank Rawat's 66-ball 122-run partnership helped East Delhi Riders beat North Delhi Strikers by six wickets in the ongoing Delhi Premier League T20 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. Simarjit Singh's 30/30 after a strong start restricted North Delhi Strikers to 179/7 in 20 overs. A sublime century partnership between Himmat Singh and Mayank Rawat not only sealed the win but also extended East Delhi Riders' unbeaten streak in the tournament to stay at the top of the points table with five wins from five matches.

East Delhi Riders got off to a shaky start in their run chase as they were all out for just 59 runs at the end of the eighth over. Sujal Singh (3 off 6 balls) was dismissed for the first time in the second over, followed by his opening partner Anuj Rawat (1 off 6 balls) in the fifth over. Samarth Seth (9 off 8 balls) and Hardik Sharma (3 off 6 balls) were quickly dismissed in the seventh and eighth overs respectively.

Himmat (85 not out) and Rawat (66 not out) then took charge, repeating the resilience they had shown in their previous match. The duo steadied the innings with a counter-attack approach that saw East Delhi Riders cross the 100-run mark by the end of the 12th over. In the same over, Singh scored his second consecutive fifty off 31 balls and the team needed 77 off 48 balls to win.

Singh and Rawat kept the scoreboard moving with timely boundaries in the following overs. By the end of the 16th over, East Delhi Riders had reached 143/4, needing 37 runs off the final 24 balls. Rawat, who was revived in the 17th over, completed his half-century in 32 balls. With Singh, East Delhi Riders scored a whopping 27 runs in the 18th over and eventually chased down the target in 18.3 overs.

After being asked to bat first, openers Vaibhav Kandpal and Sarthak Ranjan got North Delhi Strikers off to a good start as they put on 48 runs in the powerplay. The duo reached the team's 100-run mark in the 12th over and with 10 wickets in hand, the North Delhi Strikers were set for a big score against a strong East Delhi Riders bowling unit.

However, their remarkable partnership of 133 off 85 came to an end in the 15th over when Ranjan (60 off 42) was caught by Himanshu Chauhan trying to uppercut him in the 15th over. His partner Kandpal also followed him to the pavilion with a 45-ball 66 in Harsh Tyagi's next over.

East Delhi Riders bowlers made a strong comeback in the death overs. They took wickets at quick intervals and contained the North Delhi strikers. Skipper Pranshu Vijayaran (3 balls 1) was dismissed cheaply in the 16th over, while Yash Dabas' 8-ball 21 before being dismissed in the 18th over took North Delhi Strikers to 168/4 in 18 overs.

Simranjeet and Bhagwan Singh (1/17) bowled brilliantly in the last two overs as they conceded just 11 runs and took three wickets to restrict North Delhi Strikers to 179/7 after 20 overs.