Delhi Capitals (DC) registered their biggest win in Indian Premier League (IPL) history by beating Punjab Kings (PBKS) with nine wickets in hand and 57 balls remaining. DC outplayed PBKS in all departments of the game. The Rishabh Pant-led side did not just collect two points but gave their Net Run Rate (NRR) a major boost, which can come in handy in the later stages of the tournament. The win meant more as it came despite two overseas player testing positive for Covid-19. It also helped them climb to the sixth position on the points table.
Blazing start
Chasing a low score of 116, DC openers walked out to bat with an all-out attack plan in their mind. Prithvi Shaw and David Warner decimated PBKS bowling lineup in the powerplay overs. Vaibhav Arora, Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh were taken to the cleaners by the dynamic duo during fielding restrictions. Shaw and Warner put on 81 runs in the powerplay overs, the franchise's highest score in first six overs in IPL history.
Shaw misses fifty
However, just when Shaw was looking to end the run chase early, he got caught at deep mid-wicket in the seventh over. Rahul Chahar got the first wicket and Nathan Ellis took an excellent catch just inside the boundary. Shaw scored 41 runs from 20 deliveries including seven fours and one six. He shared an 83-run partnership with Aussie opener.
Warner finishes it off
In Covid-infected Mitchell Marsh’s absence, Sarfaraz Khan came out to bat at no.3. He scored 12 runs from 13 deliveries whereas Warner continued the onslaught on the other end. He reached his 53rd IPL fifty from 26 deliveries with a four off his countryman Ellis. He finished the run chase with a boundary as well and remained unbeaten for 60 runs. The Aussie opener's knock included 10 fours and one six.
Horrendous start
Earlier, Skipper Mayank Agarwal got PBKS off to a good start but Shikhar Dhawan struggled to get going. Dhawan got out for a nine-ball 10. The veteran lost his wicket to right-arm off-spinner Lalit Yadav in the fourth over and missed getting to the 6,000-run mark in IPL by just two runs. In the next over, Agarwal's cameo came to an end. He got bowled by Mustafizur Rahman for a 15-ball 24.
Big guns misfire
PBKS' English recruits failed as well. Khaleed Ahmed got rid of Jonny Bairstow whereas in-form Liam Livingstone lost his wicket to Axar Patel.
Wickets at regular intervals
Reduced to 54/4 in the seventh over, uncapped wicketkeeper-batter tried to get the innings back on track. While Jitesh scored at a good rate, Shahrukh Khan struggled to score boundaries or rotate the strike. The left-arm spinner Axar got rid of Jitesh in the 13th over. He scored 32 runs from 23 deliveries.
In the 14th over, Kuldeep made PBKS lower-middle order batters dance to his tunes. Rabada played down the wrong line and got bowled. Then, Kuldeep came round the wicket to new batter Nathan Ellis and bowled a full-pitched delivery which went through the big gap between bat and pad and hit the stumps.
Shahrukh, who was struggling to score flashed his blade in an attempt to score quickly but could only manage an outside edge into Pant's gloves. He got out to Khaleel in the 15th over, scoring just 12 runs from 20 deliveries.
In slog overs, Chahar's run-a-ball 12 and Arshdeep's 17-ball 9 helped PBKS get past 100 runs. In the slog overs, Lalit returned to the attack and got the wicket of Chahar.
In the end, Arshdeep got run out trying to sneak a single via byes. No.11 batter Vaibhav Arora scored a couple of runs off four deliveries. PBKS lost all of their 10 wickets and posted 115 on the board, their second-lowest IPL score against the Delhi-based franchise. It is also the lowest total of the season.
