At their new home ground, the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, here on Saturday, Punjab Kings got their 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign off to a flying start with a four-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals. Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone played starring roles with the bat.
The two North Indian sides engaged in a seesaw struggle, with PBKS consistently winning, particularly when Ishant Sharma of the Delhi Capitals left the game due to a twisted right ankle sustained during fielding. With the exception of a brilliant Kuldeep Yadav, it meant that DC’s bowlers weren’t very good, and their problems were made worse by dropped catches.
After holding Delhi Capitals to 174/9 in 20 overs, PBKS concluded the chase with four balls remaining, with Curran top-scoring with 63 and Livingstone not out on 38.
Chasing 175, Khaleel Ahmed’s opening over of 17 runs saw two fours apiece from Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow. Ishant Sharma started off with three wides, while Mitchell Marsh and Dhawan both took a boundary. Ishant, though, recovered when his length ball struck the stumps after it passed Dhawan’s swipe across the line.
After Prabhsimran Singh hit two fours to get things started, Jonny Bairstow was run out at the non-striker’s end when Ishant mishandled a drive from Prabhsimran and went into the stumps. Prabhsimran scored two spectacular fours against Khaleel, one on the back foot to lift over mid-wicket and the other on the front foot to drive clear of cover.
Ishant’s departure from the game after he severely twisted his right ankle trying to throw the ball from deep was a huge blow for DC. In the tenth over, Prabhsimran and Curran’s 42-run partnership came to an end when the former attempted a loft on a googly from Kuldeep Yadav and was caught far on.
After two overs, Pant stumped Jitesh Sharma as he attempted a reverse sweep against Kuldeep Yadav. When Tristan Stubbs mishandled his catch at long-on off Kuldeep in the 14th over, Curran was given a lifeline at 34. In the subsequent over, Curran struck and dragged Marsh for two fours, adding insult to injury. Livingstone then finished the eighteen-run partnership with a huge six over mid-wicket.
Following Curran’s fifty in forty-eight balls, Livingstone hit two fours off Khaleel to put PBKS in contention. Following another 18-run over for PBKS, Curran continued to find boundaries, hooking and cutting off Marsh for six and four before Livingstone hooked him for a six.
After losing his 67-run standoff with Livingstone at 42 balls, Khaleel recovered by dismissing Curran with his slower ball and then outing Shashank Singh for a golden duck on back-to-back deliveries. Warner could have taken his third wicket of the 19th over had he not dropped Harpreet Brar at long on. Livingstone gave their campaign a great start by hitting a six-wicket swing over mid-wicket off Sumit to cap off the chase in style.
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