IPL 2022: Mitchell Marsh, Shardul Thakur's sterling performances keep Delhi Capitals’ hopes alive

Mumbai: Mitchell Marsh's 63 off 48 balls and Shardul Thakur's four wickets helped Delhi Capitals to stay alive in this year's IPL competition after they defeated Punjab Kings by 17 runs in the 64th match at DY Patil Stadium here on Monday.

Ahead of this game, there was a lot of riding with the winner having a very good chance of reaching 16 points and finishing in the top four, as there are possibilities of four teams finishing with 16 points, which will bring the NRR into play in such a scenario.

DC's win, however, has left Royal Challengers Bangalore sweating. After a good start, Punjab fell behind as Shardul (4/36), Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav derailed the chase. When Punjab were reduced to 82 for 7, they had no hopes left. Jitesh Sharma made 44 and took the team close, but it proved to be tough.

Batting first, DC posted 159 for 7, thanks to Marsh's half-century that helped the team to recover from a wobble. Liam Livingstone picked three big wickets to dent DC with his spin. Arshdeep Singh too bagged three and was instrumental in putting the breaks on when Sarfaraz Khan (32 off 16) and Marsh were making things difficult for PBKS.

It was a dream start for Punjab. David Warner was dismissed by Livingstone for a first-ball duck. Sarfaraz initially took the strike, but Warner decided to face the first ball instead. And he ended up slicing the ball to Rahul Chahar at backward point. Marsh got going with two sixes off Kagiso Rabada in the second over, while Sarfaraz took the attack to Harpreet Singh in the third over, striking a six and two fours. He also smacked two boundaries off Rishi Dhawan in the fourth as DC moved to 45/1.

Arshdeep struck to remove Sarfaraz off a slower ball who mistimed the ball and was caught at midon. Luckily Lalit Yadav (24 off 21) would have been dismissed for a first-ball duck, but Arshdeep overstepped and was called a no-ball. Yadav spooned a simple catch to point, despite that DC were scoring at almost nine runs per over and needed to keep going.

Rishabh Pant walked in when DC were 98 for 3 in 11 overs. Livingstone had the last laugh as the DC captain was stumped for seven after whacking one for a six, leaving the team at 107 for 4. DC continued to hit hard against Livingstone and continued to perish. Rovman Powell (2) came in, but soon walked back. He went for the big hit, got a leading edge and was caught at long-off.

Chasing 160 runs target, Anrich Nortje removed Jonny Bairstow (28 off 15 balls) in the fourth over as the batsman managed to find the deep square leg fielder. PBKS were 38 for 1.

Punjab made good progress, but lost two wickets in the first six overs. Shardul Thakur removed Bhanuka Rajapaksa (4) in the sixth and then struck the crucial blow by dismissing Shikhar Dhawan (19 off 16) on the last ball of the powerplay. The two wickets in three balls helped DC bring some balance back in the game. At that point, PBKS needed 106 off 84.

Punjab were four down after Mayank Agarwal was bowled by Axar Patel for a second-ball duck and DC are now slightly ahead in the contest. Onus was on Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma to take PBKS home. Kuldeep landed a massive blow to PBKS's chances after Livingstone (3) was stumped and the team was five down in the ninth over with the score reading 66 for 5.

After 15 overs, Punjab were 101 for 7, needing 59 off 30 balls, but could not as they lost two more wickets, ending at 142 for 9 in 20 overs. (UNI)