Live Report - IPL 2023 - Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals, Dharamsala

It's all looking very bleak for Punjab Kings. They will desperately hope that now many other results go their way to stay alive in the playoffs race because they have only one match to go, and three teams are already above 14 points, which is the most Kings can get to.

Meanwhile, here are our experts on the talking point of retiring out batters, which we've seen happen only twice in IPL so far:

33 to win from six and the last over started with a dot, which meant PBKS needed a no-ball or some wides to claw back in. And they got it! While Livingstone was plundering boundaries, thee fourth - which he also hit for six - turned out to be an above-waist no-ball and PBKS were back in it, with 16 to get from three. But Livingstone missed the next full toss and found long-off on the last ball to finish his valiant knock on 94. A single-handed effort goes down to severely dent PBKS' playoff chances.

Mukesh was not able to nail all his yorkers and even the more experienced Nortje misses one to start the 19th, but he gets one in the block hole to rattle Curran's leg stump. A run-out on the next ball to get Livingstone back on strike is followed by more yorkers for just five runs from the over.

33 to win from six, not impossible but DC well on top.

Mukesh Kumar is bowling the 18th and like most fast bowlers in the death, he is trying for the bloc hole. Some he gets right, but the ones he doesn't, they're straightaway put away for boundaries. Livingstone's bat swing is such that he mows down two sixes on the leg side, and Curran sends one flying over the off side for another six in between. 21 from the over!

PBKS need 38 from 12, looks so much more gettable now.

This asking rate that's nearly touching 20 runs an over is too much for any team, and even though Livinstone is trying his best, the bowling is pretty good despite the presence of dew, the pitch doesn't look as flat anymore, and when Shahrukh tries to go down the ground off Khaleel Ahmed, he finds long-on.

The over had earlier started with a wide and over the waist no-ball which was edged for four, the second ball Livingstone had smoked for six, but the asking rate is such that PBKS need to keep going no matter has happened on the previous ball, and that's what SRK was trying to do. Another six from the over makes it 20 from the over.

The first was R Ashwin, and now it's Atharva Taiade. On 55 off 42, with Punjab Kings needing 86 from 30, Taide has gone back to the dressing room. It looks like Dhawan spoke to him in the strategic time out. Shiva Jayaraman says Taide's 55 is the highest score to retire out in T20s.

Brings out the hard-hitting Jitesh Sharma to join Livingstone for the last five.

Update: Oh hello, Jitesh gone for a duck! He hooks his third ball, which is a short one from Nortje, doesn't get the distance he wants and Khaleel Ahmed juussttt about holds on to it while running at deep fine leg. SRK comes out now.

In a chase with an asking rate of 10.70 an over, Taide gets to his fifty at a strike rate of just 131.5, which is too slow on this pitch in this steep chase and at a time when Punjab Kings desperately need two point two stay alive in the playoffs race. It also leads to more pressure on his batting partner, which is Liam Livingstone right now, on 37 off 23 at the end of 14 overs.

Taide has tried some big shots, some reverse sweeps, but hasn't middled many of those and overall he's not able to keep up with the asking rate. They need 97 off 36.

Punjab Kings' luck continues, combined with Delhi Capitals' poor catching. The first to get a life is Livingstone in Kuldeep's first over when he goes for his first big shot to deep midwicket and Nortje spills it.

In Kuldeep's next, Taide swings it down to long-on where Dhull, who took a catch earlier, puts it down. Ponting drops his head in his arms in the dugout. Kuldeep must be miffed from inside.

Punjab Kings 75 for 2 at the halfway mark, need 139 from the last 10.

If Punjab Kings ever wanted to buy a lottery ticket, it should be today. Their leading edges are falling short as if it's all been scripted by them. And on the very last ball of the powerplay, Prabhsimran survives twice!

To his credit, he first digs out a pin-point and excellent yorker from Mukesh Kumar, and since he has survived it, he wants a run even though Taide doesn't. Salt tries a run-out at his end, Prabhsimran is miles outside, and there's no direct hit so the batter survives.

Update: Prabhsimran takes on Axar Patel in the seventh over and this time the ball goes to the fielder, Yash Dhull takes a fine sliding catch at long-on and Prabhsimran is gone for 22 off 19.

Livingstone at No. 4, PBKS 51 for 2 after seven with an asking rate of 12.53. DC on top right now.

Ian Bishop said on our show in the innings break that the Punjab Kings bowlers leaked a lot of runs square off the wicket, which means they bowled shorter than they should have. Learning from that, the Delhi Capitals quicks have been pitching it up, and that has given Khaleel Ahmed nearly two maidens and Dhawan's wicket for a duck.

But it's hard to keep Prabhsimran quiet. At the end of the fourth over, he dispatches Ishant's length and short-of-length balls down the ground and then behind square for three fours in a row.

Taide is on 1 off 8 at the other end, and it's not getting easier for him because he now faces Nortje's first over. He doesn't middle the first for four, but second ball he swings big on the leg side for a clean six! PBKS are also very lucky because both Prabhsimran and Taide get edges in the same over and both land safely.

PBKS 36 for 1 after five, Mukesh to finish the powerplay.

It's a superb pitch for batting. However, Khaleel Ahmed starts with a maiden and Ishant Sharma starts the second with a slip, a fly slip (or very fine short third) and his first ball - a length delivery outside off - has gone straight to first slip off Dhawan's thick outside edge. Ishant has got his Delhi team-mate!

Atharva Taide joins Prabhsimran, so PBKS also keep the left-right combination going. DC 7 for 1 after two overs.

Rabada has one left, Arshdeep has two and yet, Dhawan gives the last over of the innings to left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar. It's questionable on many counts because in some early games, PBKS had not bowled Harpreet at all when there were certain LHB batting. Today also there's Rossouw, hammering everything away, and yet Harpreet gets the toughest overs one can - 16, 18 and 20.

One argument could be that both Rabada (3-0-36-0) and Arshdeep (2-0-21-0) have been expensive. But Arshdeep is your go-to bowler in the death and a captain must show the faith in his lead bowler who has done it so many times in the past for both PBKS and India on the big stage. You have to feel for Harpreet here. When he started the last over, Delhi Capitals were already 190 for 2, Rossouw was in top form (middling pretty much everything), and Harpreet is taken apart for 23 runs. The last ball could have been kept to one or two, but Rabada's misfield at deep fine leg to let it go for four summed up Punjab Kings' phase of play.

DC finish on a staggering 213 for 2, Rossouw unbeaten on 82 off 37.

He has not spared anything, he is middling those shots (92% control according to ESPNcricinfo's data at the end of the 18th over), and he is showing his full range of shots. On a batter-friendly pitch, he is naturally putting away the short or wide balls, but also driving along the ground in the gap, flicking off his pads, hitting those lofted straight shots for boundary after boundary.

DC looking set for 200-plus. They're 172 for 2 after 18.

Rilee Rossouw has watched enough from the dugout to know that he can get going straightaway, there's no need to assess the conditions. He pulled his first ball for four, drove his third for four more, took on Rabada's pace, charged against Chahar's (lack of) turn, and he has already struck four sixes by the end of the 15th over to race to 45 off 21.

Shaw, meanwhile, reaches his fifty and when he goes for a big shot on the leg side, he falls to Curran's slower ball. Gone for 54 off 38.

DC storming away at 140 for 2 after 15. Salt joins Rossouw. My thoughts are with the bowlers.

Warner is going for his shots because they're around the halfway mark and they have all 10 wickets in hand. At the start of the 10th, he skies a catch on the off side where Chahar runs a fair bit backwards but cannot hold on it; Warner gets a life on 39. Warner is not going to restrain himself though, he wants to continue attacking. In the next over against Curran, he clears his front leg again and skies another one on the off side where Dhawan sprints to mid-off from cover and goes completely air-borne to complete a stunning flying catch. Have a look at it here:

Warner gone for 46 of 31, his job is done. Rossouw joins Shaw at No. 3 so the left-right combo continues.

And Warner and Shaw have gone past that in the seventh over which saw Shaw going after Rahul Chahar for two fours, the second of which was a gorgeous inside-out lofted cover drive after stepping down the track.

DC going strong on 76 for 0 after eight, both batters on 37.

From 18 for 0 after three overs, DC have raced away to 51 in five overs! Warner and Shaw have started pulling confidently and some of Arshdeep's short balls didn't sit up that much for Shaw so he put those away without much trouble. Arshdeep's first over goes for 16, so Ellis comes on to finish the powerplay and he goes for the slower balls but gets hit for two fours as well.

DC finish the powerplay on 61 for 0.

Curran has kept it tight and Rabada has been banging it in with his short of length balls to stifle the DC batters. On the last two balls of the third over, Warner hits two consecutive fours to break the shackles. Sampath from the stats team tells me DC vs RCB and MI vs GT saw more than 20 balls for the first boundary.

Imagine. Those were the XIs the last time a game happened on this picturesque ground.

We are seeing some really good bounce from Rabada in the second over, he is really banging it in and has even hit Shaw's fingers on the right/bottom hand while defending. He has opened with Warner. Right call according to you?

Dhawan and Warner - former team-mates from an IPL season I can't remember - get together for the toss where Dhawan chooses to bowl. In the pitch report we saw some grass on the track so that must be the reason, and Dhawan says it's a "fresh track". Two changes: Atharva Taide for Rishi Dhawan and Rabada for Sikandar Raza.

Warner says there's dew around so he would have bowled first too. Two interesting changes for DC: Nortje in for an injured Mitch Marsh and Prithvi Shaw gets another chance, for Praveen Dubey.

So the big news is that the SA quick duo of Rabada and Nortje return, but in opposite sides. Punjab's bowling options are four quicks (including Curran), one spinner in Chahar and the part-time everything in Livingstone.

Delhi Capitals, strangely, are starting with seven batters.

Punjab Kings XI: S Dhawan (capt), A Taide, LS Livingstone, JM Sharma (wk), SM Curran, M Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, RD Chahar, K Rabada, NT Ellis, Arshdeep Singh. Sub options: Prabhsimran, Raza, Short, R Dhawan, Rathee.

Delhi Capitals XI: DA Warner (capt), PP Shaw, PD Salt (wk), RR Rossouw, AR Patel, Aman Hakim Khan, YV Dhull, Kuldeep Yadav, A Nortje, I Sharma, KK Ahmed. Sub options: Mukesh, Porel, Ripal, Dubey, Sarfaraz.