Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals beat Mayank-led Punjab Kings by 17 runs to finally enter the top four with 14 points against their name on Monday.
Batting first, Mitchell Marsh struck a fine half-century to take Delhi Capitals to 159 for 7 after a sudden middle-order collapse. Marsh scored 63 off 48 balls with four fours and three sixes while Sarfaraz Khan (32 off 16 balls) also made a useful contribution.
For Punjab Kings, Liam Livingstone bowled both off-breaks and leg-breaks to pick up 3 for 27 in 4 overs. In reply, PBKS lost 5 wickets in no time, and Delhi Capitals took control of the match very early in the innings. Shardul Thakur deserves a special mention as the fast bowler broke the back of Punjab's batting as he took 4 wickets. He could have had a 5-wicket haul had Warner not dropped a catch in the 20th over.
Punjab Kings managed 142 for 9 with Axar Patel (2/14 in 4 overs), Kuldeep Yadav (2/14 in 3 overs) among wickets. No Punjab batter other than Jitesh Sharma put up a fight. Jitesh fought till the end, did whatever he could and mustered 44 off 34 balls even if the wickets continuously fell from the other end.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 159 for 7 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 63, Sarfaraz Khan 32; Liam Livingstone 3/27, Arshdeep Singh 3/37).
Punjab Kings: 142 for 9 in 20 overs (Jitesh Sharma 44; Shardul Thakur 4/36).
