IPL 2023, Punjab Kings (PBKS) vs Delhi Capitals (DC): Rilee Rossouw's 82, David Warner-Prithvi Shaw's 94-run stand and Liam Livingstone's 94 are top performances. Delhi beat Punjab Kings and dented Punjab's qualification chances.
Brief Scores: DC 213/2 (Rossouw 82*, Shaw 54, Curran 2/36) beat PBKS 198/8 (Livingstone 94, Taide 55, Nortje 2/36) by 15 runs.
Player of the Match: Rilee Rossouw (82 off 37 balls)
Eighth-ranked Punjab Kings (PBKS) who was aiming to go one step closer to the playoffs locked horns with bottom-placed Delhi Capitals (DC) at the beautiful Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. Punjab leads Delhi by a 16-15 margin in their overall history of 31 games in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Delhi Killed Punjab’s Hopes Of Comfortable Qualification With A 15-Run Win
PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan on winning the toss opted to bowl first on a pitch that is 1457 meters above sea level and was expected to be good for batting with a little bit of seam movement. Delhi brought back Prithvi Shaw and Anrich Nortje while Atharva Taide and Kagiso Rabada were included for Punjab.
Put into bat first, Delhi went off to a flying start thanks to the opening duo of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw, reaching 61/0 in the powerplay before strengthening them to 93/0 at the halfway mark. Half-century from Shaw took them to 148/2 in 15 overs before Rilee Rossouw’s 37-ball 82* fired them to 213/2 in their allotted 20 overs.
Punjab lost Dhawan early before Prabhsimran Singh showed some wild batting to take them to 47/1 in the powerplay before slowing down to 75/2 in 10 overs while Atharva Taide and Liam Livingstone’s 78-run partnership took them to 128/3 in 15 overs. Livingstone tried hard but Delhi held their nerves to earn a vital 15-run victory.
Read More: IPL 2023, DC vs PBKS: Prabhsimran's maiden ton and bowlers keep Punjab Kings in play-off hunt
Talking point: Issue in tactics and Dhawan’s struggle besides Rabada's out of form
Some wrong tactics didn’t help Punjab Kings as they went for a spinner on the 20th over of the game instead of having many overs of their pace bowlers as that over went for 23 runs. Kagiso Rabada’s out-of-form isn’t helping Punjab while Arshdeep Singh after a good start has gone downwards in the season.
Shikhar Dhawan too after a good start in the season has been dried in the runs as he has scored just seven runs in the last two games. Punjab’s hope of qualification has decreased with that defeat.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the game between PBKS & DC
Rilee Rossouw showed his power for 37-ball 82* runs
One of the modern greats of T20 cricket, Rilee Rossouw hasn’t been able to crack IPL code with a poor record as before this evening he had just 127 runs in seven innings this season at a strike rate of 123.30. But he turned the table to show his muscle.
Coming to the middle in the eleventh over, Rossouw began with a couple of boundaries on the very first ball against Sam Curran in the long-on and cover region before smashing his countryman Kagiso Rabada for couple of sixes straight down the ground and over backward square leg. He now has 24 T20 runs in eight balls against Rabada besides getting dismissed once.
Rossouw flicked Curran behind square for a six before celebrating his maiden IPL fifty with a boundary over a deep extra cover region. He launched two sixes against Harpreet Brar over deep mid-wicket and long-on to now have 29 T20 runs in 12 balls against Brar besides one dismissal.
Rilee Rossouw, who remained unbeaten on 82 runs in 37 balls with the help of six boundaries and six over boundaries, now has 262 IPL runs in 13 games.
Read More: IPL 2023, CSK vs DC: Chennai a step closer to playoffs spot after big win over Delhi Capitals
Warner-Shaw opening partnership gave Delhi a good platform
On a good batting surface, Delhi needed an aggressive start from their opening batters and David Warner and Prithvi Shaw provided them the same.
After a couple of quiet overs to start, Warner smacked two back-to-back boundaries against Sam Curran in the point and cover region before nailing Kagiso Rabada for two sixes over a backward square leg. Shaw powered Arshdeep Singh over a short fine leg for two boundaries before Warner crunched Nathan Ellis over two fours in the short third man.
Shaw cracked two boundaries against Rahul Chahar before Warner was dismissed on 46 runs on 31 balls with the help of five fours and two sixes to now have 6311 IPL runs in 175 games while Shaw continued his firework. The opening stand broke on 94 runs in 10.2 overs.
With a boundary against R Chahar, Prithvi Shaw recorded his 13th IPL fifty to end on 54 runs in 38 balls shouldering on seven four and one six to now have 1689 IPL runs in 70 games.
Livingstone-Taide gave Punjab hope of winning
Chasing a huge score and after losing two wickets in the seventh over, Punjab needed some solid recovery as Liam Livingstone and Atharva Taide provided them the cushion.
Taide smashed Axar Patel over short third man for a boundary before Livingstone used his lifeline to smack Kuldeep Yadav and Mukhesh Kumar for two sixes over deep mid and long leg. Taide then hammered Axar for two boundaries in the short fine before celebrating his fifty to get retired out on 55 runs in 42 balls with the help of five boundaries and two sixes.
Livingstone kept on smashing as he nailed Anrich Nortje for a six before sending Mukhesh Kumar for three sixes in an over. Livingstone finished on 94 runs in 48 balls with the help of five fours and nine sixes to now have 819 runs in 31 games.
Read More: IPL 2023, PBKS vs MI: Ishan, Surya power MI to crucial victory over Punjab; MI move to 6th place
Points table scenario and what’s to come
Delhi Capitals remained in ninth position with five wins while Punjab held their eighth position with six wins in 13 games but they now have a do-or-die game against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 18 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
IPL 2023 Points Table
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