Twitter Reactions: Punjab Kings’ lethal blow throws Delhi Capitals out of playoffs contention

The exhilarating action continued in IPL 2023 as Delhi Capitals hosted Punjab Kings in Match 59 on Saturday, May 13 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi. Delhi Captain David Warner won the toss and invited Punjab to bat first. The decision was vindicated by veteran seamer Ishant Sharma who got the big wicket of PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan in the second over.

Ishant further returned in the fifth over to rattle the stumps of the dangerous Liam Livingstone and give Punjab their second blow. Delhi further put Punjab under pressure by picking their third wicket in the powerplay as Axar Patel cleaned up Jitesh Sharma leaving Punjab on 46/3 after six overs.

While wickets were falling at one end, Prabhsimran Singh showed incredible intent, playing fearlessly from the other end and keeping the scoreboard moving. With Sam Curran, he put on a 72-run stand in 54 balls for the fourth wicket to stabilize the innings. Curran (20 off 24) lost his wicket in the 15th over, getting out against Praveen Dubey.

However, Prabhsimran was unfazed by what was happening at the other end and continued to take on Delhi’s bowlers. He raced to his maiden IPL hundred off just 61 balls and helped Punjab post a respectable total of 167/7 on the board. The 22-year-old scored 103 off 65 balls with the help of 10 fours and six sixes in his innings. Ishant Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi as he picked up 2/27 in his three-over spell.

In the second innings, Delhi got off to a flying start as openers David Warner and Phil Salt (21 off 17) put on 69 runs for the first wicket off just 38 balls. Harpreet Brar got the first strike for Punjab in the seventh over of the innings by dismantling the stumps of Salt.

Harpreet Brar’s four-fer brought Punjab back into the game

The left-arm spinner sparked a collapse as he further dismissed Rilee Rossouw, David Warner, and Manish Pandey to leave Delhi reeling at 88/6 after 10.1 overs. Rahul Chahar also joined the party and got the big wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Axar Patel to pile on the agony for Delhi. 

Aman Hakim Khan (16 off 18) and Praveen Dubey (16 off 20) tried to stabilise the innings with their 30-run stand, but they failed to keep up with the required run rate. Both batters fell to Nathan Ellis and Delhi finished their innings on 136/8 in their allotted 20 overs, handing a 31-run victory to Punjab. Harpreet Brar (4/30) was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS while Nathan Ellis (2/26) and Rahul Chahar (2/16) picked up two wickets each.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Punjab’s victory: