2024-03-25 08:15:12
Mullanpur: Punjab Kings have started their 17th season with a win at their new home Maharaj Yadvendra Singh Stadium. Batting first after losing the toss on Saturday evening in IPL 2024, Delhi Capitals scored 174 runs on the scoreboard. In reply, Punjab won the match by losing six wickets in the last over. Two Englishmen together made Punjab win this match. Liam Livingstone hit the winning six and returned unbeaten after scoring 38 runs in 21 balls. Apart from Livingstone, all-rounder Sam Curran made the best score of his IPL career by scoring 63 runs in 47 balls. There was a partnership of 67 runs in 42 balls between the two for the fifth wicket.
The match could have changed in the 19th over
For Delhi, fast bowler Khalil Ahmed gave a ray of hope in the 19th over when he took two consecutive wickets in the first two balls. David Warner also dropped an easy catch on the last ball of this over, otherwise perhaps the result would have been different. However, Khaleel Ahmed also proved to be very expensive, he gave away 43 runs in his quota of four overs at an economy of 10.75, he got both the wickets in his last over only. Meanwhile, the departure of experienced fast bowler Ishant Sharma from the field after getting injured also cost Delhi dearly. Due to this, the last over was given to new player Sumit Kumar, who was dominated by Livingstone and he could not save the required six runs. Ishant Sharma also took one wicket for 16 runs in two overs.
All the Surmas of Delhi flopped
Earlier, Delhi Capitals team flopped badly in batting. After losing the toss and batting first, all its batsmen were out cheaply. The team could score only 174 runs for nine wickets. Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant, returning to competitive cricket for the first time after being injured in a road accident in December 2022, scored 18 runs in 13 balls with two fours. The top scorer for the team was Shai Hope, who played an inning of 33 runs. Apart from him, Abhishek Porel contributed 32 runs. For Punjab Kings, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel took two wickets each while Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar got one wicket each.