Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings LIVE Cricket Score, IPL 2026:
The right-hand-left-hand combination worked out for Delhi Capitals, posting 264/2 in 20 overs. KL Rahul put in a dominant display, once again showing why he is among India's premier batters. The DC opener ended the first innings unbeaten, smacking 152* off 67 balls, packed with 16 fours and nine sixes, and also striking at 226.87. Xavier Bartlett removed Nitish Rana (91) in the 19th over, but it came a little too late. The Punjab Kings batter departed for 91 off 44 balls, which also saw him build a 220-run stand with KL Rahul. The damage was done! Building on Rana's explosive 12th over, Rahul got his century off only 47 balls in the 15th over, smacking Marco Jansen for a four. Earlier, Rana destroyed Bartlett in the 12th over, slamming the pacer for 28 runs and also getting his half-century. The over was packed with two sixes and four fours. Rahul got his half-century in the 10th over after stitching together a 50-run stand with Rana. Arshdeep Singh was left fuming in the third over as Shashank Singh dropped KL Rahul right next to the boundary ropes. The pacer had begun to celebrate, only for his teammate to drop a sitter. In response, Arshdeep removed Pathum Nissanka in the same over as the DC opener departed for 11 off seven balls. Initially, Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel won the toss and opted to bat against Punab Kings.
PBKS are the only unbeaten team in IPL 2026 and now face DC on Saturday. DC have been very inconsistent this season, and they really need to get their campaign back on track. But against PBKS, they face a team that has been the most dominant of all this season. DC did begin IPL 2026 with back-to-back wins, but then crashed to defeats in three of their last four games. Their only win in that stretch was in Bengaluru. They are now sixth in the standings with six points in six matches (three wins and three defeats). The top order has been a concern for DC. Pathum Nissanka has been very patchy, and KL Rahul is not at his best yet. Meanwhile, they have tried three different batters at No. 3, and collectively they average 14.66 in that role. Nitish Rana, who got a fifty in the last game, was also dropped before. Meanwhile, Sameer Rizvi hasn't been able to build on his back-to-back PoTM awards. Also, skipper Axar Patel has been disappointing with the bat.
DC haven't really felt Mitchell Starc's absence yet as Lungi Ngidi has been spearheading the bowling attack. In the spin department, DC have been weak this season. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar have taken only 10 wickets between them in seven games in Delhi, since the beginning of IPL 2025. Speaking ahead of the match, DC's Tristan Stubbs spoke about his team's batting woes. He said, "It has seemed worse because we've been chasing every game. The other day, we lost three wickets in an over, and we pretty much didn't bat very well, but we still made 190 something. Yes, we haven't had that perfect innings, but on a bad day we've still won three out of six. Even when we've lost, we've still scored 190. We know there's been a couple of small moments here and there in the games, but we are scoring big scores, so we're not too worried. Everyone's really positive, and everyone's batting well, so that's quite exciting."
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