22-year-old Prabhsimran Singh’s maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) century followed by a spin masterclass from Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar helped Punjab Kings (PBKS) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by 31 runs to stay in hunt to reach playoffs. PBKS were behind DC in the game on few occasions but Arun Jaitley Stadium witnessed a few exceptional performances from the visitors as DC suffered their eighth loss of the season.
In the run chase of 168, DC got off to a flyer. Warner hit Rishi Dhawan for two fours off first two balls. In the third over, Harpreet Brar conceded three fours including two from Phil Salt's bat. Warner continued to dominate and even smashed Arshdeep Singh for a six in the sixth over. After powerplay overs, DC were 65/0. In the seventh over, Brar broke the partnership as Salt was beaten by the pace and got bowled. He scored 21 runs from 17 balls including three fours. Salt and Warner shared a 69-run opening partnership. In the next over, Warner reached his 60th half-century from just 22 balls.
Rahul Chahar in his first over trapped Mitchell Marsh in front of the stumps. Brar then got rid of Rilee Rossouw who went for a big hit but got caught by Sikander Raza at deep mid-wicket. In the same over, Warner got out lbw and even a review could not save him. The skipper scored 54 runs from 27 balls including 10 fours and one six. Chahar struck again and dismissed Axar Patel for just a single. After 10 overs, DC were 88/5. Brar tightened the screws as Manish Pandey got bowled for a three-ball duck. The left-arm spinner finished with four wickets for 30 runs.
Praveen Dubey and Aman Hakim Khan tried to get the run chase back on track but faced too many dot deliveries. In the 15th over, Arshdeep conceded 13 runs and there was a ray of hope for DC. But Aman got out next over. He scored 16 runs from 18 deliveries. In the 18th over, Ellis got Dubey bowled. He scored 16 runs from 20 deliveries. Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar could not keep the match alive. In the final over, DC needed 37 runs. PBKS won the match by 31 runs to keep their playoffs hopes alive. PBKS climbed to sixth spot with their sixth win of the season.
Earlier, Warner won the toss and opted to field first. Ishant Sharma drew first blood after getting hit for six. Shikhar Dhawan flicked one off his pads only to find Rossouw in the deep. Prabhsimran started off well with boundaries during fielding restrictions. Ishant then rattled Liam Livingstone's stumps in his second over. In-form Jitesh Sharma could not make an impact either as he got bowled by Patel.
No boundaries were scored off next two overs. At halfway stage, PBKS were 66/3. Prabhsimran broke the shackles in Marsh's over hitting him for two sixes and a four in the 11th over. He reached his half-century from 42 deliveries in the 13th over. He accelerated and hit two sixes. The opener was dropped in the 15th over when he was batting on 68. Dubey got his first wicket of the catch as Curran hit it straight to the long-on fielder. Brar had a soft dismissal in the 17th over as he fell victim to Kuldeep Yadav.
But Prabhsimran continued to take the aerial route. He reached his maiden IPL century in the 18th over with two consecutive fours off Khaleel Ahmed. He became the sixth youngest and sixth uncapped Indian batter to achieve the feat in IPL history. The 22-year-old got out in the penultimate over trying to play the scoop shot. He scored 103 runs from 65 balls including 10 fours and six sixes. In the final over, Raza hit a six. Shahrukh Khan got run out trying to steal a bye off the fifth over. Khaleel conceded 10 runs as PBKS posted a fighting total of 167/7.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Nicholas Pooran's thunderous cameo, Prerak Mankad's maiden IPL fifty snatch victory from jaws of SRH to boost playoffs hopes
After third umpire's controversial no-ball call, Hyderabad crowd chant 'Kohli-Kohli' and throw nuts and bolts at LSG dugout
