IPL 2022, PBKS vs DC Report: Marsh, Shardul combine to keep Delhi alive in Playoffs race as Punjab bow out of contention

Shardul Thakur then delivered a Player of the Match performance with a scintillating spell (4/36) to help seal a 17-run victory and hand Delhi the advantage in the race to make the IPL 2022 Playoffs.

Jonny Bairstow (28 off 15 balls) got Punjab off to a quick start with 4 fours and a six but played one shot too many as he pulled an Anrich Nortje (1/29) delivery straight to deep square leg in the 4th over.

Shardul Thakur then entered the attack for the final over of the powerplay and landed a quick double-blow to reduce PBKS to 54/3 after 6 overs.

Shardul first got Bhanuka Rajapaksa (4) caught at backward point with a sharp bouncer and then drew an edge from Shikhar Dhawan (19 off 16 balls) with another short delivery which Rishabh Pant gobbled up behind the wickets.

Axar Patel then picked up his 100th IPL scalp as he castled PBKS captain Mayank Agarwal (0), sending him back on a duck in the 7th over.

DC kept picking away at wickets as Kuldeep Yadav entered the attack in the 8th over and immediately got the big wicket of Liam Livingstone (3) as the PBKS man charged out but was done in by the googly, giving Pant ample time to whip off the bails.

Kuldeep (2/14) made it two in two overs as he castled Harpreet Brar (1) with another floated googly in the 10th over, reducing Punjab to 67/6.

Axar wrapped up a superb spell as he castled Rishi Dhawan (4) in the 13th over to finish with excellent figures of 4-0-14-2.

Jitesh Sharma and Rahul Chahar then stitched together Punjab’s biggest partnership of 41 runs to frustrate Delhi. The pair were finally split by Shardul who again picked up two quick wickets in the 18th over.

Shardul got Jitesh (44 off 34 balls) caught at long-off with a knuckle-ball which the batter mistimed towards Warner who took a sharp diving catch at long-off. Kagiso Rabada then got off the mark with a six, but dragged the last ball from Shardul (4/28) straight to long-off.

Shardul should’ve finished with a fifer but David Warner put down a regulation catch in the final over after Arshdeep Singh (2 not-out) sliced a full toss high towards long-off. Rahul Chahar finished unbeaten on 25 as PBKS managed just 142/9 in reply.

Earlier at the Toss, Mayank opted to bowl as Punjab named an unchanged team. Delhi made two changes with Khaleel Ahmed and Sarfaraz Khan coming in for Chetan Sakariya and KS Bharat.

Livingstone gave Punjab the perfect start as he sent David Warner back on a ‘Golden Duck’ with the first ball of the innings. Warner (0) strode forward to drive the tossed up delivery but ended up slicing it to backward point.

However, Marsh helped DC recover from that shock quickly with back-to-back sixes against Kagiso Rabada in the 2nd over. Sarfaraz then joined the party with six, four and four off consecutive deliveries from Harpreet Brar in the next over.

Sarfaraz continued his onslaught with a couple more boundaries against Rishi Dhawan in the 4th over. It was Arshdeep Singh who finally ended Safaraz’s (32 off 16 balls) quick-scoring cameo as he entered the attack in the 5th over and got the DC opener caught at mid-on.

Arshdeep could’ve had two in two as Lalit Yadav pulled the next ball straight to Bairstow who took a good superb sliding catch at deep square leg, but the bowler had overstepped resulting in a no-ball.

Arshdeep returned to bowl the 11th over and this time made no mistake as he got Lalit (24 off 21 balls) caught at point with a clever slower short ball.

Livingstone was then thumped for six by Rishabh Pant (7 off 3 balls) in the next over but he responded by getting the DC captain stumped on the very next delivery to reduce Delhi to 107/4 after 12 overs.

It was the first time that Pant was dismissed via stumping in the IPL, but Livingstone (3/27) wasn’t done yet. The English all-rounder then got Rovman Powell (2) caught at long-off in the 14th over.

Marsh meanwhile continued his rich vein of form as he brought up back-to-back fifties with a four against Harpreet Brar in the 17th over. Marsh (63 off 48 balls) then looked to up the ante but was sent packing by Rabada (1/24) in the penultimate over.

Arshdeep (3/27) then got rid of Shardul (3) while giving away just 7 runs in the final over. Axar remained unbeaten on 17 off 20 balls as DC managed to post 159/7.