Captain Axar Patel returned to form with a quick half-century while David Miller complemented him really well with a half-century of his own as DC, who were in trouble in the power play in the chase, came back to upstage PBKS by 3 wickets with an over to spare to keep their mathematical hopes alive. PBKS were asked to bat first and posted 210/5 in 20 overs on the back of half-centuries from Priyansh Arya and Shreyas Iyer, while Cooper Connolly and Suryansh Shedge chipped in with valuable contributions.
In the chase, DC were in trouble inside the power play, losing the top three early. Thereafter, the fightback came from Axar Patel and David Miller, who made sizzling fifties. Ashutosh Sharma, Madhav Tiwari, and Auqib Dar drove home the advantage to get the victory for their side. For PBKS, only Arshdeep Singh bowled well for his 2/21 in 4 overs, but the rest of the batters went for runs as DC kept their slim hopes alive and climbed to 7th in the points table. PBKS have lost 4 games in a row now and stay in 4th place for now.
Sparkling 50s from Priyansh Arya and Shreyas Iyer power PBKS to a competitive 210/5 in 20 overs
Put into bat first, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, the keeper batter, opened the batting for PBKS while Mitchell Starc had the ball in hand for DC. It was the Priyansh Arya show inside the power play as he took on Starc by smashing his first ball for the maximum, as 22 runs came off the first over of the contest. Prabhsimran played the perfect role of second fiddle to Arya, but it was the southpaw who dominated proceedings.
No bowler was spared in the power play. Arya took them on and was ruthless in his approach, reaching his fifty in 24 balls. The power play was all PBKS as they did not lose a wicket. They scored 72/0 in 6 overs of power play and had a quick start. The opening duo added 78 runs inside 7 overs for the first wicket before Singh fell for 18 off 15 balls with 3 fours to his name to Mukesh Kumar. Captain Shreyas Iyer promoted himself up the order to 3.
Arya and Iyer tried to forge a partnership and added 19 runs for the second wicket before Arya, the set batter, fell for 56 off 33 balls with 2 fours and 6 sixes to his name to Madhav Tiwari. Cooper Connolly came out to bat next. PBKS were 97/2 in 9 overs. Iyer and Connolly got together and built up a nice stand for the third wicket. Both bat well with each other and complement each other really well.
They just swapped their position and nothing else. Shreyas looked fluent out there, and Connolly got going as well. The duo maintained a decent run rate and made sure PBKS were ahead in the game in terms of run rate. They did not allow the Delhi Capitals any room for error. The duo of Shreyas and Connolly added a valuable 83 runs for the third wicket before Connolly fell for 38 off 27 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Madhav Tiwari. Marcus Stoinis came out to bat next.
Just 7 runs were added to the tally before Stoinis fell for 1 off 2 balls to Mitchell Starc. Shashank Singh came out to bat next and was dismissed first ball for a golden duck as Starc had two in two balls. Suryansh Shedge came out to bat next and faced the hat-trick ball. He smashed the hat-trick ball over long-on for the maximum. Shedge came and played a brilliant cameo, as that helped PBKS get over the 200-run mark.
Shedge hit a maximum and boundary off Starc and finished with a flurry. Lungi Ngidi bowled the last over of the innings and changed his pace, deceiving the batters. Iyer completed his fifty as it was a welcome return to form for the PBKS captain. The duo added 23 runs off the last 10 balls, in which Shedge made 21 off 8 balls, as PBKS finished with a competitive 210/5 in 20 overs. Shreyas remained unbeaten on 59 off 36 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes to his name, while Shedge was unbeaten on 21 off 8 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name. 17 extras given by the fielding side.
From the DC bowlers’ point of view, Madhav Tiwari was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/40 in 4 overs. Mitchell Starc went on the journey but finished with 2/57 in 4 overs. Mukesh Kumar finished with 1/31 in 4 overs. Auqib Nabi finished with figures of 0/32 in 4 overs. Lungi Ngidi finished with 0/46 in 4 overs. This meant that DC’s target was 211 runs to win in 20 overs to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Whirlwind 50s from Axar Patel & David Miller help DC upstage PBKS by 3 wickets with an over to spare
Chasing a massive 211 for the win, keeper batter KL Rahul and Abishek Porel came out to bat for DC while Arshdeep Singh had the ball in hand for PBKS. The duo started steadily. They added 10 runs inside 2 overs before Porel was the first one to go for 5 off 6 balls with one four to his name to Yash Thakur, who cleaned him up. Sahil Parakh came out to bat next. The duo of Rahul and Parakh added 4 runs to the score before Rahul fell for 9 off 8 balls with 2 fours to his name to Arshdeep Singh. Tristan Stubbs came out to bat next.
Parakh and Stubbs tried to forge some sort of a partnership and added 19 runs for the third wicket before Parakh fell for 13 off 6 balls with one four and one six to his name as a quick cameo came to an end. DC were 33/3 in 4.3 overs. Captain Axar Patel came out to bat next and came out all guns blazing. It was a struggle for Stubbs out there as he failed to find the timing out there.
Stubbs was dropped when batting on 9*. But that dropped catch did not prove too costly for the Kings. Axar was on the move and scored runs fluently out there in the middle. The duo of Axar and Stubbs added 41 runs for the 4th wicket before Stubbs was run out for 12 off 17 balls with one four to his name by Cooper Connolly. David Miller came out to bat next.
Miller and Axar got together and took the game away from PBKS. They aced the middle overs phase as DC were playing catch-up for most parts, but came roaring back into the contest. Axar looked fluent while Miller found his fluency after getting his eye in. They complemented each other really well and, suddenly, the target was within reach. The duo added 64 runs for the 5th wicket in good time before Axar, the captain, fell for 56 off 30 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Marcus Stoinis. Impact Player Ashutosh Sharma came out to bat next.
Miller took matters into his own hands post the dismissal of Axar Patel and took the game to PBKS. The duo added 32 runs for the 6th wicket with Miller hitting consecutive sixes to reach his fifty. The score reached 170 in the 17th over before Miller fell for 51 off 28 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Ben Dwarshuis. Madhav Tiwari came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway with a boundary.
Ashutosh and Madhav combined and made sure that panic did not set inside the camp. Madhav was hitting it, and so was the impact player Ashutosh. The duo added 35 runs for the 7th wicket to take the team closer to the target before Ashutosh fell for 24 off 10 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Yash Thakur, with 6 needed off 7 balls.
Auqib Nabi came out to bat next and got a waist-high full toss, which he put away for a boundary, and no ball was called for height. The free hit ball went for the maximum as Auqib took on the bowler Thakur and deposited it over long-off for the maximum. Madhav Tiwari remained unbeaten on 18 off 8 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name, while Auqib Nabi was unbeaten on 10 off 2 balls with one four and one six to his name as DC finished with 216/7 in 20 overs. 18 extras given by the fielding side, which included 17 wides.
From PBKS’ point of view, Arshdeep Singh was by far the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/21 in 4 overs. The others went for plenty of runs. Yash Thakur, the Impact Player, finished with 2/55 in 4 overs. Ben Dwarshuis finished with figures of 1/51 in 4 overs. Marcus Stoinis finished with 1/44 in 3 overs. Marco Jansen finished with 0/45 in 4 overs. So, DC upstage PBKS by 3 wickets with an over to spare. Madhav Tiwari was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
So, DC keeps their mathematical hopes alive with this big win, while PBKS have now lost 4 games in a row. PBKS stays in 4th place. DC are in 7th place now. PBKS next faces MI on Thursday night in Dharamsala before facing RCB on Sunday afternoon. DC will next face RR in New Delhi on Sunday night. Tomorrow, it’s a huge game as GT hosts SRH in Ahmedabad. Both teams have won 7 out of 11 games, and the winner will get to that magical figure of 16 points and top the points table. All won’t be lost for the loser either. Let’s see who comes out on top in this clash.
Also Read:Â PBKS vs DC: PBKS Aims To Get Back To Winning Ways Against Depleted DC