Rossouw blitz places Punjab Kings on brink of elimination
Delhi Capitals 213 for two (Rossouw 82*, Shaw 54, Curran 2-36) beat Punjab Kings 198 for 8 (Livingstone 94, Taide 55, Nortje 2-36, Ishant 2-36) by 15 runs
A blinding show of boundary hitting throughout the bottom from Rilee Rossouw in his unbeaten 82 off 37, mixed with helpful contributions from the opposite Delhi Capitals top-four batters, handed Punjab Kings a 15-run defeat and severely dented their playoff probabilities.
Kings acquired near the end line ultimately, because of a belligerent 94 off 48 from Liam Livingstone, however he fought a lone battle. The loss stored Kings on the eighth spot with 12 factors. They now rely upon many different outcomes going their technique to keep alive within the playoffs race as a result of they’ve just one match to go, and three groups are already above 14 factors, which is essentially the most Kings can get to.
Kings had been largely behind the asking fee proper from the beginning as a result of their solely different batter who scored over 25 was Atharva Taide, who struggled for fluency and retired out on 55 off 42 balls. Livingstone’s pursuit of boundaries ultimately stored Kings’ slim hopes alive, whether or not they wanted 79 off 24 or 38 off 12. In the final over too, after they wanted 23 from the final three balls, they acquired a lifeline when Ishant Sharma despatched down a no-ball which Livingstone despatched for six, making it 16 required from three with a free hit coming. But Livingstone failed to attach with the following full toss and holed out to long-off on the final ball.
Warner, Shaw flick the swap on
In the primary IPL sport in Dharamsala in ten years, David Warner and Prithvi Shaw noticed out the primary 16 balls for no boundaries earlier than racing away. Warner broke the shackles with consecutive fours off Sam Curran earlier than pulling Kagiso Rabada for 2 sixes. Shaw too acquired going when he noticed Arshdeep Singh’s brief balls did not have a lot tempo. He pulled and glanced him for 4, 4 and 6 in a 16-run over. When Warner additionally put away Nathan Ellis’ slower balls for fours, Capitals ended the powerplay on 61 and shortly introduced up their highest opening stand of this IPL.
Rossouw’s fifty takes it up a notch
Rahul Chahar wasn’t having day. Soon after he was put away for 3 fours in his first two overs by Shaw, he dropped a tricky likelihood to offer Warner a life on 39. Warner continued to assault as a result of Capitals had all ten wickets in hand on the midway mark. But when he skied yet another, Shikhar Dhawan accomplished a spectacular catch at mid-off to take away him for 46 off 31.
Capitals stored the left-right mixture by sending out Rossouw at No. 3, and he attacked actually from ball one. That he pulled his first ball for 4 and drove his third for 4 extra confirmed how good the pitch was for batting. The vary he confirmed within the thirteenth over off Rabada epitomised his innings; a size ball hit straight for six, one other size ball positioned simply broad of brief third for 4, and yet one more size ball dispatched over sq. leg with a stunning pick-up shot for six in a 17-run over. Not lengthy after Rossouw additionally punished Chahar and Curran for sixes, Shaw holed out for 54 within the fifteenth over.
Kings belief Brar for dying overs
Rossouw had raced away to 45 off 21, and Capitals to 148, with 5 overs to go when Dhawan bravely introduced on Harpreet Brar, who gave away simply 14 runs within the sixteenth and 18th overs mixed, earlier than Phil Salt and Rossouw made up for it within the final two. Salt smoked Ellis for 2 sixes over long-on whereas additionally edging one supply for 4.
For the ultimate over, Dhawan as soon as once more trusted Brar as a substitute of the designated dying bowler Arshdeep, who had been costly in his first two. Rossouw mercilessly muscled Brar, who additionally gifted two wides, for 2 sixes and a 4 on the leg aspect. A misfield on the final ball from Rabada at tremendous leg gave Capitals their first 200-plus whole of the season.
Kings additionally begin gradual
The Capitals quicks hardly gave any freebies early on. Khaleel Ahmed began with a maiden to Prabhsimran Singh, Ishant had Dhawan caught at slip for a duck, and Khaleel almost bowled one other maiden to maintain Kings on 10 for 1 after three. Prabhsimran then hit the pedal with three consecutive fours earlier than Taide additionally collected boundaries to get out of the opening of 1 off eight balls. Prabhsimran and Taide additionally loved a justifiable share of luck. Their main edges fell protected, and Capitals missed just a few direct hits. Taide’s edges even fetched him some boundaries. Kings completed the powerplay on 47 for 1, with the asking fee nearly 12 an over.
Livingstone stands tall however alone
As quickly as Prabhsimran holed out to long-on off Axar Patel, it was all a Livingstone present. It began with Livingstone getting a life on 3 off Kuldeep Yadav when Anrich Nortje put him down at deep midwicket, and Taide too acquired dropped off Kuldeep in his subsequent over. Taide, nevertheless, couldn’t rating freely as he struggled to search out the gaps or go over the fielders.
Livingstone, in the meantime, made use of his large bat swings for loads of hits within the ‘V’ down the bottom when the bowlers missed their lengths even marginally. He hit a boundary almost each over and was solely overwhelmed by Kuldeep a few instances. In the fifteenth over, he dispatched two full tosses from Mukesh Kumar for fours however Taide was labouring on the different finish and he retired out when Kings wanted a stiff 86 from 30 with their hitters Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan and Curran but to return.
Despite the firepower within the dugout, the heavy lifting was left for Livingstone. Jitesh holed out to lengthy leg for a duck within the sixteenth and Shahrukh discovered long-on within the seventeenth. Meanwhile, Livingstone blasted two sixes and a 4 off Khaleel, and three sixes got here off Mukesh within the 18th to make it 38 required from 12. Nortje then rattled Curran’s leg stump with a yorker and when 33 had been left from the final six balls, Ishant began with a dot to all however seal it. His no-ball was thwarted for six, however he completed the sport with three dots and ship Kings’ hopes crashing.
Vishal Dikshit is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo