IPL 2023, PBKS vs DC: Shaw, Warner, Rossouw power Delhi over Punjab; Punjab on verge of elimination
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