DC beat PBKS by six wickets!
Delhi Capitals 208 for 4 (Rizvi 58*, Nair 44, Brar 2-41) beat Punjab Kings 206 for 8 (Shreyas 53, Stoinis 44*, Mustafizur 3-33) by six wickets
Only twice in 22 attempts before Saturday night had Delhi Capitals (DC) successfully chased down a total of 200 or more. By hunting down 207 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Jaipur, they not only saw a 21-year-old Sameer Rizvi hit his maiden IPL fifty in a winning cause but also dented PBKS' hopes of a top-two finish this season.
The defeat still leaves PBKS at No. 2 on the points table, but with every chance of them finishing third and thus having to play the Eliminator if results in the upcoming matches don't go their way.
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Tight finish looms
Sameer Rizvi, only 21 years old, is playing a great hand for DC. Even after losing Nair, he has looked to keep the tempo going by attacking without any doubts. He's unbeaten on 43 off 20 balls after 18 overs - his highest score in IPL - and has DC just 22 runs away from victory.
DC 185 for 4 in 18 overs. This could go all the way. However, ESPNcricinfo's forecaster has them at a 75.82% chance of winning.
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DC in front
The partnership between Nair and Sameer Rizvi is now 53 off only 24 balls. Thirty-two of those runs have come in the last two overs. A top-edged four and a paddle sweep for six for Rizvi off Omarzai. Six for Nair over mid-off against Jansen, and then another six with a pull by Rizvi to end the over.
DC 146 for 3 in 14 overs. They need another 61 runs in 36 balls.
70.93 That's the percentage of chance which ESPNcricinfo's forecaster gives DC from here.
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Nair goes after Dubey
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Nair's day started with news of him being in line of a Test comeback after eight long years. By late night, he's carting PBKS legspinner Dubey in celebration of that call up.
Slog sweep through square leg, sweep behind square, pull through midwicket, and sweep past short fine leg. All that comes after Dubey has Atal caught on the first ball of the over. DC 110 for 3 after 11 overs, with the required rate now 10.78.
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Spinners check DC
DC are 81 for 2 after nine overs, but so far, they haven't liked facing spin. A total of three overs from left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar and legspinner Praveen Dubey have gone for only 22 runs, with Brar getting du Plessis out.
His first over went for 13 runs, but he came back well in the second with changes of pace to have the DC captain caught at cover. DC need another 127 runs from 66 balls, with Nair and Atal at the crease.
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Rahul, du Plessis speed up
PBKS see there's a match-up there. Left-arm spinner vs two right-hand batters at the crease. So Shreyas Iyer introduces Harpreet Brar in the fifth over. Until then, Rahul and du Plessis have got to 37. But it is precisely now that the two DC openers decide to attack more.
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Third ball, du Plessis skips down the pitch, and drives for four between the non-striker and mid-on. Sixth ball, Rahul slices a six over the bowler's head by opening the face of the bat. Fifty up. DC 50 for 0 in five overs.
But by the time the powerplay ends, Marco Jansen has Rahul chipping to mid-off. It was the final over of the fielding restrictions, and DC needed to up the tempo. But it doesn't work out. DC 61 for 1 after six overs.
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Will DC upset PBKS?
2 Number of times out of 22 attempts that DC have successfully chased down totals of 200 or above. One of those two wins, though, came earlier this season when they hunted 211 down against LSG in Visakhapatnam.
Tonight, in pursuit of 207 against PBKS in Jaipur, they have started rather patiently. DC are 22 for 0 after three overs. They even get that far because KL Rahul ends the third over with back-to-back boundaries: he first whips Arshdeep over midwicket, and then slaps him over cover.
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PBKS end on 206
Punjab Kings 206 for 8 (Iyer 53, Stoinis 44*, Mustafizur 3-33 ) vs Delhi Capitals
In pursuit of a top-two finish, and thus a place in Qualifier 1, Punjab Kings (PBKS) attacked nearly all through the innings against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Jaipur. They were 60 for 2 after the powerplay, scored 80 for 3 in the next ten overs, and crashed 70 runs in the final four. Eventually, PBKS ended with 206 for 8, led by Shreyas Iyer's 53 off 34 balls, and a finishing kick from Marcus Stoinis, who bashed an unbeaten 44 off only 16 deliveries.
Mustafizur Rahman bagged three wickets for DC, finishing with 3 for 33. All three of his wickets were of batters getting caught by Tristan Stubbs, who was keeping wicket in place of the dropped Abishek Porel.
Despite Mustafizur getting Priyansh Arya in the second over, Prabhsimran Singh and Iyer continued to attack. PBKS were 44 for 1 after five overs, but then targeted DC’s spinners Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav.
They lost two wickets in the next four overs, but also cracked 47 runs off them. But despite wickets falling around him, Iyer held one end up for PBKS. They were 146 for 5 at the start of the death overs, when Stoinis and Iyer took Mukesh Kumar for 25 runs in the 17th.
Iyer reached his fifty off 33 balls when he clipped Mukesh off the last ball. Kuldeep Yadav hit back in the 18th over by having Iyer caught at fine leg off a 112kph short ball, and new batter Azmatullah Omarzai at wide long-on.
But Stoinis helped PBKS still thump 32 runs off the last two overs, with 6, 4, 4, 6 coming off Mohit in the 19th. Harpreet Brar swung his first ball for six in the final over, and took PBKS past 200, their seventh such score this season.
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Dropped... then taken
Mohit Sharma is placed at fine leg, as Kuldeep begins the 18th over to Stoinis. The latter goes for the slog sweep, but the ball takes off from the higher side of the bat. But Mohit loses his balance, and drops Stoinis.
Next ball, at a straighter fine leg this time, Mohit grabs Iyer. The PBKS captain is faced with a 112kph shortish ball fired on middle and leg, and ends up swiping while using the pace of the ball.
Four balls after, new batter Omarzai finds the man at wide long-on as he looks to pull but fails. Just three runs off the over, and PBKS 174 for 7 after 18 overs.
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Death overs begin
12.22 PBKS' run rate in death overs (16-20) this season, before today. That's the highest among all sides.
Marcus Stoinis, back into the side, takes Mukesh Kumar apart in the 17th over. A swing over midwicket and another heave over square leg for six each, and a forceful drill shot to long-off, where du Plessis misses an attempt to catch. He hurts his little finger in the process, and goes off the field.
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Off the last ball, it is Iyer who brings up his fifty be clipping one off his pads to beat the keeper. Mukesh is taken for 25 runs, and PBKS 171 for 5 after 17 overs.
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Luck favours Iyer and Shashank
Three times in an over.
Third ball of the 14th over. Mohit Sharma bangs it short, and bowls it over middle and leg. Iyer looks to hook, but the ball ends in the keeper's gloves. He's given out, only to overturn the decision using DRS.
Next ball, he top-edges an attempted pull, but the ball falls wide of Kuldeep Yadav, running across and diving to his left from short fine leg.
The over ends when Shashank launches one to long-on. Nair there takes the catch, but throws the ball back on to the field, with momentum taking him beyond the boundary. So that's eventually a single. Strangely, though, Nair had signalled six just after dropping the ball back. PBKS 142 for 4 after 15 overs.
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Mukesh gets Wadhera, but Iyer firm
The ball has skidded through each time DC's fast bowlers have bowled with pace on. Returning to bowl the 13th over, Mukesh went on a length to left-hander Nehal Wahdera. The ball arrived just outside off, and Wadhera went lofting down the ground. But he was deep in the crease, and hence the considerable bounce off that length became a factor to deal with. Eventually, the ball ballooned off the higher side of the bat, his bottom hand came off the bat, and du Plessis took a tumbling catch moving from mid-off to mid-on.
But Shreyas Iyer is unfazed by the wickets falling around him, and after 14 overs, he's unbeaten on 44 off 26 balls. PBKS 134 for 4.
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PBKS batters vs DC's spinners
11.75 PBKS' run rate in the first four overs of spin tonight.
PBKS were 44 for 1 after five overs. Since then, DC have bowler four successive overs of spin: two each from Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav. In this period, PBKS have smashed 47 runs, but they have come at the cost of losing two wickets.
A total of four boundaries and three sixes have been crashed in this period, with every incoming batter showing intent from ball one. Typical T20 style. PBKS 91 for 3 after nine overs, with the first time-out being asked for.
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Powerplay belongs to PBKS
A bit of a cat-and-mouse contest going on. First between Mohit Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh, and then between Vipraj Nigam and Josh Inglis.
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Off the fourth ball of the fifth over, Prabhsimran shuffles across and shapes to scoop. But Mohit spots that and bowls short and outside off. The ball, though, is still guided for four between short third and point. Next ball, Mohit fires a yorker, and Prabhsimran's attempted scoop fails. Then, Prabhsimran skips down and drills one for four more.
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Leggie Nigam starts with a short ball, which Inglis picks from shin height and deposits for six over square leg. Nigam responds with a googly, which is cut away past the keeper for four off the outside edge. The bowler then floats another wrong 'un, and finishes it outside leg. Inglis is down the track and beaten, and Stubbs is into play again. Shreyas Iyer arrives, and gets an early boundary. PBKS 62 for 2 after six overs.
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PBKS counter Fizz's strike
T20 cricket is about remaining unfazed about wickets lost, and, to an extent, the opposition and the conditions as well. Tonight, PBKS show exactly that.
Mustafizur Rahman had Priyansh Arya top-edging in the second over, as Arya and Prabhsimran Singh could add only eight runs, their third-lowest this season. But from 10 for 1 in two overs, PBKS have added 25 runs in two overs.
New batter Josh Inglis, back into the side, has the led the counterattack. He pulled Mukesh to fine leg, and went aerially down the ground for four each. Inglis even reads a slower ball from Fizz, and deposits it for six over deep square leg. Inglis is even dropped twice - one was a difficult return catch for Fizz. PBKS 35 for 1 after four overs.
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Mukesh keeps it tight
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Mukesh Kumar takes the new ball against a batting pair whose average run rate this season was 10.20 until tonight. He starts over the wicket to Priyansh Arya, and swings the ball both ways. The four you see off the fifth ball was off a jab outside off stump, with the outside edge taking the ball to the deep-third boundary. PBKS 5 for 0 after one over.
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DC opt to bowl against PBKS
Delhi Capitals opt to bowl vs Punjab Kings
Faf du Plessis stood in as captain for Delhi Capitals (DC) for the second game in a row, and opted to bowl in their final game of the season, against Punjab Kings (PBKS). DC's regular captain Axar Patel had missed their previous match, against Mumbai Indians three days back, due to a flu, and continued to remain out of action.
Du Plessis said at the toss that they were playing an extra batter in Karun Nair, with Abishek Porel dropped, and KL Rahul once again starting on the bench in their bowling-first XI. Tristan Stubbs was slotted in as wicketkeeper in Porel's place. DC also handed an IPL debut to Afghanistan's opening batter Sediqullah Atal.
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, wants his side to build on the momentum even as they are already into the playoffs. PBKS have won three games in a row going back to when the IPL hadn't been disrupted, and had last played six days back, when they beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur itself.
PBKS played the returning Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis in their batting-first XI, as they replaced Mitchell Owen and Xavier Bartlett from the side that beat RR.
Victory over DC will push PBKS up to 19 points, and with that, the No. 1 spot in the points table.
PBKS bat-first XI: 1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Priyansh Arya, 3 Josh Inglis (wk), 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Azmatullah Omarzai, 10 Harpreet Brar, 11 Arshdeep Singh
Impact Subs: Pravin Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Xavier Bartlett, Kyle Jamieson
DC bowl-first XI: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Sediqullah Atal, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Sameer Rizvi, 5 Tristan Stubbs (wk), 6 Ashutosh Sharma, 7 Vipraj Nigam, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Mukesh Kumar
Impact Subs: KL Rahul, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurna Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Darshan Nalkande
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Will PBKS make it to Qualifier 1?
It's a four-way race to make it to the top two: PBKS vs RCB vs GT vs MI. But who stands how much of a chance? Here's our scenarios piece for all that you need to know about the build-up to the playoffs.
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Namaste!
Welcome to a north-Indian derby being (re)played in western India. Sixteen days back, PBKS and DC were one-fourth of the way into their contest in Dharamsala. It all looked so different back then. PBKS were yet to make it to the playoffs, while DC were still in contention. But after incidents beyond our control, here we are, in Jaipur this evening, with PBKS now into the playoffs and DC's campaign done. Don't let that fool you, however, into believing that there's nothing to play for today. PBKS, after all, are aiming for a top-two finish to have not one but two chances of making the final - their first since 2014.
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