Young Sameer Rizvi struck a high-quality, maiden half-century after Karun Nair marked his return to the Indian Test team with a vital knock as Delhi Capitals pulled off a six-wicket win over Punjab Kings to end their IPL season on a positive note on Saturday. Set a stiff target of 207, DC completed the task in 19.3 overs with the 21-year-old Rizvi remaining unbeaten on 58 off 25 balls, which included five sixes and three fours. Nair had earlier contributed 44 in 27 deliveries with two sixes and five fours.
With the loss, PBKS is yet not assured of a top-two finish, though they are still in the top two.
This was after Marcus Stoinis brought his big-hitting abilities to the fore following Shreyas Iyer‘s sparkling half-century as Punjab Kings posted a challenging 206 for eight.
Given their recent record, it looked like a difficult target for Delhi, but impact sub KL Rahul (35 off 21 balls) and stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis (23 off 15) provided their team with a good start, quickly adding 55 runs in less than six overs to keep them in the game.
Having played some fine shots, including a beautifully-timed boundary through cover-point off Azmatullah Omarzai and a spectacular straight six off Harpreet Brar, Rahul got out to an innocuous delivery as he sliced a slow off-cutter from Marco Jansen for a running Shashank Singh to complete the catch.
Recalled to the Indian Test team after eight years, Karun Nair started his innings with a six over fine leg off Jansen.
Du Plessis wasted his start and in what turned out to be a soft dismissal, the seasoned South African found Priyansh Arya at backward point after failing to keep his cut shot down.
Leg-spinner Praveen Dubey, who dismissed Sediqullah Atal (22 off 16), was hit for four successive boundaries by Nair as DC reached 111 for three in the 11th over.
When Nair was bowled by Brar at a crucial juncture, it looked difficult for DC.
Earlier, Stoinis blazed away to a 16-ball 44 not out after Iyer set it up with a 53-run knock off 34 deliveries. Stoinis struck four sixes and three fours during his blistering knock.
Opting to bowl, DC enjoyed early success as Priyansh Arya (6) top-edged a Mustafizur Rahman (3/33) short ball that cramped the batter for room and wicketkeeper Tristan Stubbs went few steps backwards to complete a neat catch after the ball went very high.
Josh Inglis picked up a couple of boundaries off Mukesh. Prabhsimran Singh punched one down the ground off Mustafizur for a four before giving the strike back to Inglis, who flicked the left-arm seamer for a maximum over deep backward square.
Prabhsimran found two fours off Mohit Sharma before Vipraj Nigam (2/38) closed out the powerplay with an eventful over in which he was welcomed with a six and a four by Inglis before accounting for the Australian’s wicket as the batter was smartly stumped down the leg side by Stubbs after the young leg-spinner bowled a googly.
That brought into the middle PBKS’ in-from skipper Iyer and he began his innings with a boundary.
Meanwhile, Prabhsimran whacked Kuldeep Yadav‘s (2/39) first ball of the match for a six before finding the ropes against Nigam, who, however, had the last laugh again, as the batter inside-edged the ball onto the stump while trying to play the scoop shot.
Prabhsimran’s dismissal left PKBS at 77 for three in the ninth over but Iyer was not perturbed as he slog-swept Kuldeep for a six over deep midwicket.
Nigam, who has a bright future and could be a contender for the next T20 World Cup, bowled a tight 10th over as PBKS reached 97 for three at the halfway stage. Mohit too helped in tightening things up in his next two overs.
Mustafizur used the angle well to force Shashank Singh to edge to Stubbs, but Mukesh squandered DC’s advantage by conceding 25 runs in an over marked by two sixes, two fours, and three extras.
Iyer’s knock finally came to an end when he hit Kuldeep straight to Mohit, who dropped Marcus Stoinis in the precious ball.
Mohit paid for that drop catch as Stoinis pummelled him for 22 runs.
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