DC spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav delivered in the middle overs as Shardul Thakur alone complemented the duo with 4 wickets as Delhi Capitals secured top four position by beating Punjab Kings by 17 runs in an IPL match on Monday.
Invited to bat, DC posted 159 for 7 courtesy Mitchell Marsh’s 48-ball 63 and then restricted Punjab to 142 for 9. Thakur (4/36), Axar (2/14) and Kuldeep (2/14) shared eight wickets among them while Anrich Nortje got the important wicket of Jonny Bairstow. It is between overs 6-14 where Delhi won the game as Kuldeep and Axar cumulatively gave away only 28 runs in seven overs with four wickets between them.
With this win, DC jumped a place to fourth with 14 points from 13 matches. Royal Challengers Bangalore (14 from 13 matches) have same points as DC but they were pushed down to fifth spot as they have -0.323 NRR compared +0.255 of Delhi.
Punjab, who remained at seventh spot with 12 points from 13 matches, are virtually out of reckoning for a play-offs berth as they also have a -0.043 net run rate.
Chasing 160 for a win, Punjab suffered a batting collapse after a good start. Jitesh Sharma (44 of 34 balls) and Rahul Chahar (25 not out off 24 balls) made a late fight back with a 41-run stand, highest in their run chase, for the eighth wicket but that proved to be too little too late.
Punjab began on a promising note with in-form Jonny Bairstow hitting fours and sixes to take his side to 27 for no loss at the end of third over.
But from there the collapse began as five Punjab heads rolled one after the other as they were reduced to for 5 at the end of the eighth over.
Bairstow (28 off 15 balls) fell to Nortje in the fourth over before a struggling Shrdul Thakur took two wickets — that of Bhanuka Rajapaksa (4) and Shikhar Dhawan (19) — in three balls in the sixth over to change the complexion of the game.
Punjab were 54 for 3 at the end of powerplay and three balls later Axar Patel claimed his 100th IPL wicket with a special one, that of Punjab captain Mayank Aggarwal (0) who has been struggling this season.
Liam Livingstone was out in the eighth over, stumped by Rishab Pant for Kuldeep’s first wicket.
It was all over for Punjab by then as they were reduced to 68 for 6 at the halfway mark.
