Delhi epitomised idioms like ‘falling like nine pins’ and ‘crumbling like a house of cards' in match 59 of the Indian T20 League, as they were handed a 31-run defeat by Punjab. Shikhar Dhawan’s men were put to bat first and they scored 167 runs, with Prabhsimran Singh scoring his maiden ton in this competition. In response, Delhi were once cruising at 69/0, but then went through a gigantic collapse, ultimately managing to muster only 136/8.
Although Prabhsimran had scored just one fifty in his first 17 games, he was seen at his very best in this fixture. Having scored just 27 runs off his first 31 deliveries, the 22-year-old from Punjab shifted gears only after getting his eye in.
Punjab’s decision of sending Sam Curran ahead of Sikandar Raza and Shahrukh Khan, however, did not pay dividends, with the all-rounder scoring just 20 runs in 24 deliveries.
For Delhi, Ishant Sharma was once again the most influential bowler, picking up the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Liam Livingstone.
The hosts had an outstanding start with the bat, with skipper David Warner leading by example, courtesy of a 27-ball 54. Cruising at 69/0 at the one stage it seemed that the two points have been all but secured, until Harpreer Brar’s four-fer and Rahul Chahar’s twin scalps jolted Delhi’s progress. They lost six wickets in 19 runs, and ultimately, could not score more than 136 runs.
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