Sam Curran’s half-century and his 67-run partnership with Liam Livingstone helped PBKS Kings 11 ) defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) by four wickets in Rishabh Pant’s comeback match. Chasing 175, Kings XI Punjab got off to a good start with opener Jonny Bairstow and captain Shikhar Dhawan smashing Khalil Aha respectively in the first over Two boundaries from Khaleel Ahmed made their attacking intentions clear.

The nascent partnership between Bairstow-Dhawan was cut short on 34 runs as captain’s Delhi teammate Ishant Sharma scored 22 runs off 16 balls, including four boundaries. PBKS are 34/1 in 3.1 overs.

Ishant could not stop his run and he bowled Bairstow for nine runs. PBKS’ win rate in 3.5 overs is 42/2.

Prabhsimran Singh and Sam Curran are the new duo. Khaleel was hit with two consecutive boundaries by Prabhsimran to bring PBKS to 50 runs in five overs.

PBKS has solid strength. At the end of six rounds. PBKS stands at 60/2 with Prabhsimran (17*) and Curran (9*) remaining unbeaten.

Prabhu Simran’s knock was small but impactful, with 26 off 17 balls, including five fours. Kuldeep Yadav took his first wicket and David Warner caught the ball at long delivery. PBKS’ winning percentage is 84/3 in 9.2 overs.

At the halfway point of the innings, PBKS were 87/3 with Jitesh Sharma (2*) and Curran (23*) remaining unbeaten.

Jitesh looked really good, cutting Sumit Kumar into two. However, his innings was cut short when Pant was bowled for nine. Kuldeep took his second wicket. PBKS has a win rate of 100/4 in 11.3 rounds.

Delhi Capitals’ bowlers put pressure on PBKS but Livingstone and Curran scored 18 runs including 2 fours and a six from Mitchell Marsh’s 15th over. PBKS needed 45 runs in the last five overs.

Curran hit his first half-century in IPL 2023 off 38 balls, including five fours.

After Axar Patel was largely silent, Liam hit two fours from Khaleel to reduce the deficit to 28 points in the final three overs.

Curran continued to turn the tables in favor of Punjab, beating Marsh with four and six. Livingstone ended the game with 6 points and 12 goals reduced the deficit to 10 points.

Karel ended an explosive 67-run stand-off between the two England stars as he dismissed Curran for 63 off 47 balls with six fours and a six. PBKS were at 167/5 with eight runs needed from nine balls. In the next ball, he got Shashank Singh for a duck, giving PBKS 8 runs off 8 deliveries.

Livingstone sealed the victory with six runs to end PBKS at 177/6 with four balls remaining. Livingstone remained unbeaten at 38* off 23 balls with two fours and three sixes. Harpreet Brar remained unbeaten with 2* at the other end.

Kuldeep (2/20) and Khaleel Ahmed (2/43) are DC’s top bowlers.

PBKS co-owner Preity Zinta was ecstatic after winning.

Victory begins

A guide to Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone @PunjabKingsIPL win over #DC

Scorecard https://t.co/ZhjY0W03bC#TATAIPL | #PBKSvDC pic.twitter.com/OrH2ZXUIID

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 23, 2024

Earlier, youngster Abhishek Porel’s blistering knock helped Delhi though PBKS bowlers performed well in the first innings of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Capital City (DC) scored a total of 174 runs and lost 9 wickets on Saturday.

PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. Two Australian batsmen, David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, opened the innings for Delhi Capitals. Both the batsmen started off very aggressively and soon scored a 39-run partnership.

The first wicket to fall was Marsh’s. He was dismissed in the fourth over after scoring 20 runs off 12 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes off the bowling of Harshal Patel. DC’s record in 3.2 overs is 39/1.

DC reached the 50-point mark in 4.5 overs.

Warner was the next man to be dropped, dismissed by Harshal Patel and chased by Jitesh, who hit 29 off 21 balls with three fours and two sixes . DC’s winning percentage in eight rounds is 74/2.

Next up was West Indies’ star wicketkeeper-batsman, who played a small but crucial innings for the team. The right-handed batsman scored 33 runs from 25 balls in the innings, which featured two boundaries and two sixes. DC’s winning percentage is 94/3 in 10.4 overs.

DC captain Rishabh Pant came on after the fall of the second wicket and scored only 18 runs in the match, including two fours. Notably, Pant missed last season due to injuries sustained in a life-threatening car accident in December 2022. DC’s winning percentage in 12.4 overs is 111/4.

Star India all-rounder Axar Patel scored a crucial 21 runs off 13 balls with 2 fours and a six. Eventually, the visitors brought in Porel as an impact player to replace Ricky Bhui. Wickets fell from the other end as DC were reduced to 147/8 in 18.3 overs.

Porrell scored an unbeaten 32 runs off just 10 balls, finishing with a strike rate of 320 with the help of 4 boundaries and 2 sixes. It helped DC reach 174/9 in 20 overs. Porrell was run out on the last ball.

For the home team, Arsdeep Singh and Harshal Patel took two wickets each as they conceded 28 and 47 runs respectively in the four overs. Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet and Rahul Chahar grabbed a wicket each in their respective spells.

Brief score: Delhi Capitals 174/9 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 33, Abhishek Porel 32*, Arshdeep Singh 2/28) vs Kings XI Punjab: 177/6 in 19.2 overs (Sam Curran 63, Liam Livingstone 38*, Kuldeep Yadav: 2 /20).