Delhi Capital’s skipper, Rishab Pant, chose to bowl first after winning the toss. The Punjab Kings defeated the Delhi Capitals in a close-encounter thriller at the Mullanpur Cricket Ground. The opener of PBKS, Shikhar Dhawan, provided them with a fiery start with 22 of 16 balls, and Prabhsimran Singh made 26 of 17 balls, but Ishant Sharma tried pulling things back with two crucial wickets. The brilliant diving sop from Ishant Sharma accounted for Dhawan helping to make Jonny Bairstow run out only for 9 runs. Previously, CSK star Sam Curran made 63 runs, and Liam Livingstone played a brilliant cameo role at the end, making 38* and hitting three sixes to take his team over the fence.
DC Scrape to 174 Thanks to Late Porel Heroics
Delhi Capital managed to make a moderate target due to the collapse of their middle order. DC’s openers David Warner (29) and Mitchell Marsh (20) got DC off to a flying start, but their dismissals made their middle order tremble.
Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh both took a couple of wickets and pushed Delhi on the backfoot. Despite their disciplined bowling, Abhishek Porel came out of the syllabus and stole the show for Delhi.
A Tale of Two Halves
The middle-class batsmen of Delhi couldn’t grab and utilize all of these opportunities. After the fall of these two wickets, Delhi’s batting went downhill. Though Captain Rishabh Pant (18) and Shai Hope (33) got a decent start but couldn’t convert it into substantial scores,.
Punjab Kings Clamp Down
The PBKS bowlers deserve credit for keeping things tight throughout the innings. They applied pressure from the get-go, not giving away easy boundaries and forcing DC batsmen to take risks. Rabada and Arshdeep were particularly impressive, picking up wickets at regular intervals and stifling any momentum DC tried to build.
Porel provides late fireworks.
When every hope seemed off, Abhishek Porel came in as a substitute and emerged as DC’s savior. His quickfire 3* off just 9 balls, which included 4 fours and 2 sixes, completely changed the complexion of the innings. Porel inning provided DC camp with a much-needed fighting total.
Dhawan and Prabhsimran provided a solid start for Punjab.
DC chose to bowl first, which backfired on them from the beginning as Dhawan and Prabhsimtan took the DC bowling to the cleaners. This duo put on a 42-run opening partnership before Ishant Sharma provided the breakthrough, dismissing Dhawan with a short delivery.
Curran and Livingstone took PBKS to a good target.
The middle order of PBKS was not able to utilize the start given by their opener; however, Sam Curran played a brilliant knock, scoring a well-placed half-century of 39 balls. The partnership between Curran and Livingstone mended the damage done by Ishant and Khaleel Ahmed (3–41).
Livingstone’s little cameo at the end
While PBKS still needed 30 runs to win the game, Liam took the game on his own. The big-hitting English all-rounder smashed three sixes in his 38th inning. Despite Khaleel Ahmed picking up two wickets in the 18th over, it was not enough to prevent PBKS from kissing the target.
Brief Scores:
- Punjab Kings: 177/6 (20 overs) (Sam Curran 63, Liam Livingstone 38*; Khaleel Ahmed 3-41).
- Delhi Capitals: Yet to bat
Man of the match: Sam Curran
Turning Point: Dismissal of Shikhar Dhawan by Ishant Sharma
