PBKS vs DC Review: Curran, Livingstone achieve opening win for Punjab
Delhi Capitals took on Punjab Kings in the second match of the IPL 2024 in Mullanpur Chandigarh. Punjab Kings won the all-important toss and opted to bowl first on as pitch anticipating assisting the pacers. DC started well in the powerplay but their batters could not capitalize on the starts and gifted their wickets. Rishabh Pant, who made his much-awaited comeback to competitive cricket, managed just 18 of 12 despite earning a life.
With no batter crossing the 40-run mark, DC managed a decent 174 for a loss of 9 wickets. Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel struck twice each, however, the latter had a disastrous outing, leaking 47 runs, including a 25-run last over where he was torn apart by DC’s impact player Abhishek Potel (32* off 10).
During their chase, the Punjab Kings started with a flurry but they lost wickets quick succession after Shikhar Dhawan (22) and Jonny Bairstow’s (9) decent start. However, Sam Curran, coming at number four, and the impact player Prabhsimran Singh constructed a nice 42-run stand for the third wicket. Khaleel Ahmed bowling the 19th over struck two timely wickets of Curran and Shashank Singh. But inexperienced Sumit Kumar could not contain six runs off the last over and Punjab won the match by four wickets.
Top Performers of the Match
Sam Curran (63 off 47)
Sam Curran was the linchpin behind Punjab Kings’ chase against the Northern rivals. The all-rounder started cautiously and hit customary boundaries in the middle. His knock included six boundaries and a maximum. He would have loved to finish things off, if not for the second-to-last over fumble against Khaleel Ahmed. On a pitch that assisted the pace, he held a strike rate of 134.04.
Kuldeep Yadav (4/20)
Kuldeep Yadav continued his red-ball form in the T20 cricket as well. For most of the game, there were talks of the pitch slowing down, but it was never to be seen. However, Kuldeep managed to use his pace and puppet play the ball according to the situation of the game. He picked the crucial wickets of India’s domestic stars, Prabhsimran and Jitesh Sharma. He ended with the figures of 4 for 22 with an economy rate of just five.
What’s next for both teams?
Delhi Capitals will take on Rajasthan Royal on March 28 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur whereas Punjab Kings will look to extend their winning touch against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 25 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
