Captain Akshar Patel played a useful innings for Delhi.Image Credit source: PTI
After losing 2 consecutive matches, Delhi Capitals finally kept their playoff hopes alive by winning in a 'do or die' match. In a very important match against Punjab Kings, Delhi achieved the big target of 211 runs in 19 overs and registered its fifth win this season. It was very important for Delhi to win this match because with a defeat here, it would have been out of the tournament. But captain Akshar Patel, who had been flopping with the bat throughout the season, finally came into play, who along with David Miller and young all-rounder Madhav Tiwari led the team to victory by 3 wickets. At the same time, this is the fourth consecutive defeat of Punjab, which has not lost any match for 7 consecutive matches.
This was the first match of this season in Dharamshala, which is the second home ground of Punjab Kings. Punjab also made a strong start here and opener Priyansh Arya hit a six on the very first ball and Punjab's 50 runs were completed in just 2.4 overs. Priyansh gave a fast start to the team by scoring a half-century in just 24 balls in the powerplay. But after this suddenly the pace of the innings slowed down.
After Priyansh, captain Shreyas Iyer also scored a half-century, while Cooper Connolly also played a useful innings. But at one time Punjab, which was looking to score more than 220, somehow managed to cross the 200 mark. In the end Suryansh Shedge made it possible by scoring 21 runs in just 8 balls. Medium pace-allrounders Madhav Tiwari and Mitchell Starc, playing only their second IPL match, took 2 wickets each.
At the same time, Delhi's condition had become weak in the power play itself and the team had lost the wickets of its first three batsmen for only 33 runs. Of these, 2 wickets were taken by Arshdeep Singh and one by Yash Thakur, whose first match this season. But after this, captain Akshar Patel took charge, who could score only 44 runs in the last 8 innings of this season and could not hit even a single six. This time Akshar played the captaincy innings and not only hit the first six but also made a comeback by playing an explosive inning of 56 runs in just 30 balls.
During this time, he also got good support from David Miller, who had to be in and out of the team continuously this season. But Miller showed why he is dangerous. The veteran South African batsman took the team closer to the target by scoring 51 runs in 28 balls. After Miller's dismissal, Punjab seemed to be making a comeback but Ashutosh Sharma eliminated Punjab from the match by scoring 24 runs in 10 balls. After doing wonders with the ball, Madhav Tiwari took the team to victory by scoring 18 runs in 8 balls.
