The pitch in Dharamsala had some assistance for the quicks, but neither Delhi Capitals nor Punjab Kings could make proper use of it on Monday.
The Kings bowlers turned out to be worse in their execution as the Capitals, despite wobbling at one stage, rode on the half-centuries of captain Axar Patel and the experienced David Miller to chase down an imposing 211-run target with three wickets in hand and keep their playoffs hopes alive.
Put into bat, the Kings, thanks to Priyansh Arya (56 off 33 balls) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (59 not out off 36 balls), posted 210/5. With Arshdeep Singh striking twice in the Powerplay, they reduced the Capitals to 33/3 in the fifth over and then 74/4 in the ninth.
Axar, hitting his first 50 of the season, and Miller (51 off 28 balls), returning to the XI after three games, focused on consolidation and treating the ball on its merit.
The South African was solid on one end with Axar (56 off 30 balls) taking the odd risk as the pair added a valuable 64 for the fifth wicket. Their stand took the Capitals’ scoring rate to almost 10 an over, laying some sort of a foundation for the win.
Miller was steady even after Axar’s dismissal and brought up his half-century as well. But Australian pacer Ben Dwarshuis, on debut, dismissed Miller against the run of play, leaving the Capitals with 41 to get off 21 balls.
But finisher Ashutosh Sharma, along with young seamer all-rounder Madhav Tiwari, who earlier took 2/40 in what was his first game this season, hammered 35 off 2.2 overs that took the Capitals to just a hit away off the last seven balls.
Pacer Auqib Nabi finished it off with a four and a six as the Capitals won the game with an over to spare.
All-round effort
The inclusion of the 22-year-old Madhav, who went into this clash after just one game at the senior level, was a bit of a gamble. The youngster from Madhya Pradesh, however, bowled at a steady pace and braved the dew to first dismiss the dangerous Priyansh before removing a well-set Cooper Connolly.
Then, in a difficult situation, Madhav backed his ability with the bat to slam two fours and a six for his equally crucial 8-ball 18.
Spin not in favour
The Capitals went in with Axar as their loner spinner, with the struggling Kuldeep Yadav benched. Agreed, the conditions suited quicks more, but given the stump-to-stump line Axar focuses on, an over or two from him may not have made the Capitals’ attack look so one-dimensional.
More baffling was Yuzvendra Chahal, one of the Kings’ main wicket-takers, not
getting a single over to bowl either, which certainly hurt his team.
