Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) in match number 64 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala on Wednesday. After being asked to bat first, Delhi posted a mammoth 213/2 with the help of an unbeaten 82 off 37 from Rilee Rossouw and 54 off 38 from Prithvi Shaw. In response, Liam Livinstone's innings (94 off 48) kept PBKS in the game till the end but they had left themselves too much to do as they eventually fell 15-run short.
Other than Livingstone and Shaw's half-centuries, DC captain David Warner also had a great outing and scored 46 off 31 to help his side get off the blocks after early bit of assistance from the surface for the seam bowlers. Both the openers though played out that phase sensibly and then unleased their range of strokes to get into a position of solidity.
Despite the great start, 200 seemed out of reach for DC when they were 172/2 in 18 overs but Nathan Ellis conceded 18 runs off the penultimate over of the innings before Dhawan's decision to hand over the final over of the innings to left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar backfired as it went for 23 runs.
In the run chase, PBKS had a nightmarish start with Khaleel Ahmed bowling a maiden over to start off the innings for DC and Ishant Sharma getting rid of Shikhar Dhawan for a golden duck. After that, PBKS batters did start to get some runs but were not up with the required run rate. Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran Singh added 50 runs off 33 balls while Livingstone and Taide added 78 off 50 balls but it was only when Livingtone went berserk in the end that gave Punjab some hope.
Ultimately, they were second-best despite a no-ball under dramatic circumstances in the final over and 17 coming off the first three balls. Anrich Nortje (2/36) from his 4, Ishant Sharma (2/36 ) from his 4 and Khaleel Ahmed (1/20) in his 3 were outstanding while Kuldeep Yadav (0/21) in his 3 overs also made his presence felt with the ball.
DC's win has given then brownie points with them set to finish outside of top four but it spoiled PBKS chances of securing a Playoff berth who now not only have to win their last game but also hope that some of the other results go in their favour.