The Delhi Capitals (DC) registered their 7^th victory in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after beating the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 17 runs on Monday at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.  

Mitchell Marsh’s splendid knock of 63(48) and Shardul Thakur’s impressive four-wicket haul powered DC to a crucial 17-run victory.

Chasing 160 for victory, PBKS openers – Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow were off to a terrific start with the bat. 

Bairstow smacked a four and a six each before the opener holed out to the deep off Anrich Nortje. Shardul Thakur struck twice in his first over to dismiss Rajapaksa and Dhawan as PBKS were 54/3 at the end of 6 overs. 

PBKS lost the next three wickets in no time, courtesy of Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling brilliance which followed after Axar Patel rattled the stumps of skipper Mayank Agarwal. 

While Livingstone was stumped in the 8^th over, Harpeet Brar was castled by Yadav’s googly. PBKS were 8 down after Rishi Dhawan was cleaned up by Axar Patel. 

The hundred was up for PBKS after Jitesh Sharma dispatched his first six in the 15^th over. Jitesh Sharma raced to 43 and PBKS required 39 runs off 18 deliveries 

Shardul claimed two more wickets after Warner grabbed a fantastic catch to dismiss Jitesh Sharma for 44 while Rabada holed out to the deep. 

Only 3 runs were conceded in the penultimate over, bowled by Nortje as PBKS required 26 off the final over. Thakur gave away only 8 runs in the 20^th over and DC registered a 17-run victory.

Earlier, DC, who were put in to bat first, made two changes – Khaleel Ahmed and Sarfaraz Khan were named in the eleven. 

David Warner was out on the first ball after the left-handed opener was caught inside the circle off Livingstone’s bowling. The pressure of an early wicket didn’t affect Mitchell Marsh and Sarfaraz Khan as the duo were dealing in boundaries. 

The fifty partnership was up for the second wicket before Rahul Chahar grabbed a sky-high catch off Arshdeep Singh to dismiss Sarfaraz. DC were 59/2 at the end of the powerplay. 

Marsh was joined by Lalit Yadav, who crunched his first six of the innings in the 9^th over and DC were 86/2 at the halfway stage.

Arshdeep Singh deceived Yadav with a slower one to claim his second wicket. Livingstone then scalped two wickets to dismiss explosive batters Rishabh Pant and Rovman Powell. 

DC were 116/5 with five overs to go before Marsh reached his half-century as the right-handed batter kept the runs flowing from one end. 

Rabada brought Marsh’s innings to an end after the DC all-rounder was caught at deep mid-wicket in the penultimate over. Arshdeep conceded only 7 runs in the final over including a breakthrough of Shardul Thakur as DC posted 159/7 in the first innings.  

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 159/7 (Mitchell Marsh 63, Sarfaraz Khan 32; Liam Livingstone 3-27) beat Punjab Kings 142/9 (Jitesh Sharma 44, Jonny Bairstow 28; Shardul Thakur 4-36) by 17 runs.