IPL 2022 | DC vs PBKS | Clinical bowling performance guides DC to a 17-run win

Mitchell Marsh's brilliant knock and an all-round bowling performance have helped Delhi Capitals thump Punjab Kings' by 17 runs and further boost their chance of making it to the playoffs.

Punjab Kings were flying high when Jonny Bairstow was nailing those pull shots during the powerplay. The Kings brought up their 50 inside five overs.

With Bhaunka Rajapaksa and Dhawan in the middle and Liam Livingstone, Mayank Agarwal, and Jitesh Sharma to follow, the target of 160 looked like a stroll in the park.

But then Shardul Thakur came into the attack, and everything changed. Thakur dismissed both Dhawan and Rajapaksa in his 1st over, and the rest was taken care of by the spin duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav.

Like they always tend to do, Punjab pressed the self-destructive button, and within the next 3.5 overs, they went from being comfortably placed at 1-53 to 6-67.

Mayank endured another poor outing, which eventually ended with his stumps being shattered after attempting to back away and slash Axar backfired massively.

Livingstone soon followed him to the pavilion as he jumped out to deposit Kuldeep into the stands but ended up missing it entirely, and Pant did the rest with a regulation stumping. Harpreet Brar and Rishi Dhawan were next in line.

Kuldeep (2/14 in 3) and Axar (2/14 in 4) bowled seven overs between them and returned with figures of 4/28.

Jitesh Sharma (44 off 34 deliveries) and Rahul Chahar did their best to keep Punjab in the game as they took the attack to Khaleel Ahmed and Shardul, but it proved to be a bridge too far to scale.

Mitchell Marsh spearheads DC to 159

Earlier, Delhi Capitals got off to the worse possible start as they lost an in-form David Warner on the first ball of the innings. 

Warner was dismissed by Liam Livingstone, who had quite a time with the ball on Monday evening.

However, make-shift opener Sarfaraz Khan (32 off 16 deliveries) and Mitchell Marsh (63 off 48 deliveries) ensured that Warner's dismissal didn't hurt DC as they hammered 51 runs between them in just 4.4 overs.

Arshdeep (3/37 in 4 overs) broke the partnership with the wicket of Sarfaraz, but Marsh continued with his onslaught, peeling off his 2nd consecutive 50+ score in quick time.

Marsh and Lalit Yadav (24 off 21 deliveries) added 47 runs in the next six overs before the latter's dismissal triggered a collapse that saw DC go from 2-98 to 5-112 within a space of 2.3 overs. This included crucial scalps of Rishabh Pant and Rovman Powell, who were dismissed by Livingstone (3/27 in 4 overs).

Rahul Chahar may not have taken a wicket, but he was extremely tough to score off on a pitch that was clearly aiding spinners. The right-arm wrist spinner gave away just 19 runs in his four overs.

Marsh held the fort till the 19th over before Rabada eventually dismissed him. DC managed 36 runs in the final four, with Arshdeep proving to be extremely tricky to get away.

It didn't matter, though, as they easily defended the total of 159.

Match Summary:

Delhi Capitals 159/7 (20 overs)

Mitchell Marsh 63 ((48), Sarfaraz Khan 32 (16);

Liam Livingstone 3/27 (4), Arshdeep Singh 3/37 (4)

Punjab Kings 142/9 (20)

Jitesh Sharma 44 (34), Jonny Bairstow 28 (15);

Axar Patel 2/14 (4), Shardul Thakur 4/36 (4), Kuldeep Yadav 2/14 (3)

Delhi Capitals won by 17 runs