Pant wows the crowd but DC lose to Kings
SAM Curran and Liam Livingstone played starring roles with the bat as Punjab Kings got their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign off to a flying start with a four-wicket win over Delhi Capitals at their new home ground, the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, yesterday.
It was a see-saw battle on a solid black soil pitch bereft of grass. But PBKS were always ahead in the chase, especially with Ishant Sharma going off the field after twisting his right ankle while fielding in the sixth over.
It meant DC’S bowlers, barring a superb Kuldeep Yadav, didn’t come off well, apart from dropped catches adding more misery to their woes in a game which was also their captain Rishabh Pant’s first competitive outing after a 14-month lay-off to recover from injuries suffered in a near-fatal car accident in December 2022.
Curran top-scored with 63, while Livingstone was not out on 38 as PBKS closed the chase with four balls to spare as they scored 177/6 after restricting Delhi Capitals to 174/9 in 20 overs thanks mainly to 33 by Shai Hope and 32 not out by Abishek Porel.
Chasing 175, Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow hit two fours each in the 17-run opening over bowled by Khaleel Ahmed.
Jitesh Sharma was stumped by Pant while going for a reverse sweep off Yadav. Curran was handed a lifeline at 34 when Tristan Stubbs spilled his catch at long-on off Yadav in the 14th over.
To rub salt in the wounds, Curran slapped and pulled Marsh for two fours in the next over, with Livingstone ending the 18-run over with a six over mid-wicket.
After Curran got his fifty in 38 balls, Livingstone took a brace of fours off Ahmed to put PBKS in the hunt for a win.
Ahmed bounced back by castling Curran with his slower ball to end his 67-run stand off 42 balls with Livingstone and bounced out Shashank Singh for a golden duck on consecutive deliveries.
He could have got his third wicket of the 19th over if Harpreet Brar hadn’t been dropped at long-on by Warner.
Pushed into batting first, Marsh picked back-to-back clipped fours off Curran. From the other end, Warner feasted on short balls from Arshdeep Singh by smashing a six and four off him. Marsh welcomed Kagiso Rabada with a pulled six over deep square leg.
Marsh fell after driving straight to Rahul Chahar at cover point.
The moment which everyone waited for came after Warner’s fall when Pant received applause from the crowd while coming out to bat in his comeback competitive game.
The left-handed batter took his time, like not taking twos twice in his first six deliveries, before pulling off Chahar to Harshal Patel at mid-wicket, who dropped the catch to give him a boundary.
Pant wowed the crowd but fell for a 13-ball 18.
DC got to within a fighting total, which wasn’t enough to begin their IPL 2024 on a winning note. |
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 174/9 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 33, Abishek Porel 32 not out; Arshdeep Singh 2-28, Harshal Patel 2-46). Punjab Kings 177/6 in 19.2 overs (Sam Curran 63, Liam Livingstone 38 not out; Kuldeep Yadav 2-20, Khaleel Ahmed 2-43). Punjab Kings won by four wickets.