New Delhi, May 14 (IANS): Prabhsimran Singh's maiden century, followed by clinical efforts from bowlers helped Punjab Kings beat Delhi Capitals by 31 runs in Match No. 59 and knock them out of the playoffs race in the ongoing season 2023 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Saturday.
Opener Prabhsimran Singh's brilliant maiden IPL century (103 off 65) guided Punjab Kings to a competitive 167/7 in 20 overs. Punjab were struggling at 45/3 but Prabhsimran stitched a vital stand of 72 runs off 54 balls for the fourth wicket with Sam Curran to get them out of trouble. On the other hand, Ishant Sharma was the most successful bowler for Delhi Capitals with his 2-27.
Chasing a fighting total, Delhi Capitals were off to a flying start, scoring 65/0 after six overs courtesy of Warner's attacking approach. Warner came out all guns blazing hitting Rishi Dhawan for back-to-back boundaries in the very first over.
The Australian didn't spare anything whether it was the pace of Nathan Elis, Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh and the spin of Harpreet Brar, hitting the new ball to all parts of the ground and making the target of 168 look like a cakewalk. On the other hand, Philip Salt also found occasional boundaries as Delhi were cruising towards the target quite comfortably.
It was Brar, who eventually gave Punjab their first breakthrough in the 7th over by removing Salt (21). However, Warner continued his aggressive intent and reached his 60th fifty in the IPL off 23 balls.
Though Warner was going strong, he didn't get support from the other end with Mitchell Marsh and Rilee Rossouw getting out cheaply against Punjab spinners. Eventually, Warner (54 off 27) also got to Harpreet Brar in the 9th over, which started Delhi Capitals downslide in the run-chase.
The likes of Axar Patel and Manish Pandey also didn't grab the opportunity to shine, getting out without showing any fight and leaving Delhi Capitals at 88/6 after 10.1 overs.
Lower down the order, the likes of Aman Hakim Khan (16), Praveen Dubey (16) and Kuldeep Yadav (10 not out) tried but their efforts were not enough as Delhi Capitals were restricted to 136/8 in 20 overs.
Harpreet Brar (4-30), Rahul Chahar (2-16), and Nathan Ellis (2-26) were successful bowlers for Punjab Kings.
Brief scores:
Punjab Kings 167/7 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran 103, Sam Curran 20; Ishant 2-27) beat Delhi Capitals 136/8 in 20 Overs (David Warner 54, Philip Salt 21; Harpreet Brar 4-30, Rahul Chahar 2-16) by 31 runs.