Liam Livingstone’s magnificent unbeaten knock of 94 went in vain as Delhi Capitals defeated Punjab Kings by 15 runs at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Wednesday.
After being asked to bat first, Capitals opening pair of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw got their side off to a fantastic start. The duo added 94 runs for the opening wicket before Warner fell to a brilliant diving catch by Shikhar Dhawan off Sam Curran for 46.
Shaw featured in yet another crucial 54 run stand for the second wicket alongside Rilee Rossouw before the former perished to Curran for a fine 54.
The pair of Rossouw (82)* along with Phil Salt smashed the Punjab bowlers to all part of the ground by adding a quickfire unbeaten 65 run partnership for the third wicket to take Capitals to a massive score of 213/2 in their 20 overs.
Chasing 214, PBKS started disastrously as skipper Shikhar Dhawan (0) edged a delivery from Ishant Sharma to Aman Hakim Khan at first slip.
Prabhsimran Singh and Atharva Taide added 50 for the second wicket before the former miscued a delivery from left arm spinner Axar Patel to Yash Dhull at long on for 22.
Left hander Taide scored a 42 ball-55 before retiring out at the end of 15th over. The likes of Jitesh Sharma (0) and Shahrukh Khan (6) perished cheaply, leaving their side in a spot of bother at 147/5.
Liam Livingstone kept Punjab in the hunt by scoring a 48 ball-94 which included 5 fours and 9 sixes. However his efforts were not good enough as Punjab finished at 198/8 in their 20 overs, thereby falling 15 run short of the target.