IPL 2022, 32nd match: Delhi Capitals thrashes Punjab Kings

Delhi Capitals fought off a covid-19 burst in their camp to complete the demolition of Punjab Kings in IPL 2022 at Brabourne Stadium on April 20. Delhi also had to go for a change in venue, but they put all the distractions behind them to complete a 9-wicket win with about 10 overs to spare. Delhi chased down a target of 116 in 10.3 overs losing one wicket in the bargain.

Punjab Kings

Luckless in the toss, Punjab Kings was asked to bat first. A lot rested on openers Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan, but the two failed to click together. Dhawan fell early, giving a catch to keeper Rishabh Pant off Lalit Yadav’s bowling for 9. Agarwal raced to 15-ball 24 with 4 fours but saw his stumps shattered by Mustafizur Rahman.

However, instead of consolidating, Punjab went on attacking and lost their top two foreign players in Jonny Bairstow for 9 off Khaleel Ahmed and Liam Livingstone for 2 off Axar Patel. Livingstone, who has been in brilliant form in the tournament, was stumped after the Englishman missed the delivery when he stepped out to hoist it for a six.

Jitesh Sharma and Shahrukh Khan then looked to rebuild the innings, but the former’s penchant to hit it out saw him getting out LBW to Patel for 23-ball 32. Shahrukh Khan then fell for 12, giving a catch to Pant off Ahmed’s bowling.

At 92/8, Punjab Kings looked in danger to be bowled out for less than 100. But the last two wicket pairs played out the full 20 overs to be bowled out for 115. Lalit Yadav was the most successful bowler for Punjab with 2/11.

Delhi innings

Delhi looked in a hurry to catch the bus back to the hotel as their openers started throwing their bats from the word go. Prithvi Shaw, who is usually the aggressive lot, was helped by David Warner’s penchant to match his strokes for strokes.

The two big hitters of the ball went for their shots and gain rich dividends. Punjab Kings had no clue what hit them. And before they could react, the Delhi openers had put a fifty-run stand in just 3.3 overs – the fastest fifty-run stand in this season. The two also broke a few records on their way to a first-wicket stand of 83 runs in 6.3 overs.

The two had put 81 runs in the powerplay overs. It was the highest powerplay runs scored by any Delhi team in the 15 seasons of IPL.

Finally, Shaw fell for 20-ball 41 with 7 fours and 1 six, giving a catch to Nathan Ellis off Rahul Chahar’s bowling. Sarfaraz Khan was sent at No 3, and he didn’t disappoint. Warner and Khan completed the chase of 116 in just 10.3 overs to boost the team’s net run-rate. Warner made 30-ball 60 not out with 10 fours and 1 six. Sarfaraz Khan scored 13-ball 12.

Brief scores: Punjab Kings 115 (Jitesh Sharma 32, Lalit Yadav 2/11) loses to Delhi Capitals 119/1 (David Warner 60 not out, Prithvi Shaw 41) by 9 wickets.