Riley Rossouw’s blistering knock of unbeaten 82 off 37 and Prithvi Shaw fine fifty (54 off 38) followed by a collective bowling effort led Delhi Capitals (DC) to a thrilling 15-run win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in an IPL 2023 match at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium, here on Wednesday.

David Warner and Shaw stepped up and gave DC the perfect start. The skipper fell four short but Shaw scored a fine fifty. Then, Rossouw and Philip Salt (26) joined hands to give the perfect finish, scoring 51 runs off the last three overs as DC posted 213/2 in 20 overs.

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In reply, after a shaky start, Atharva Taide ( 55 off 42) and Livingstone’s blitzkrieg (94 off 48) brought PBKS back in the game. However, Delhi bowlers did well to keep taking wickets from one end despite fireworks from Livingstone as they dealt a hammer blow to Punjab’s chances of qualifying for the play-offs with a 15-run win.

DC could have wrapped the game early. They dropped a couple of catches, had a couple of run out chances missed and a few no-balls at the wrong time, which stretched the match to the end.

Chasing 214, PBKS had a poor start as they lost their skipper early in the Power-play. After a maiden opening over by Khaleel Ahmed. Ishant Sharma struck in the next over and sent the skipper back to the hut for a duck.

PBKS recovered from a shaky start as Prabhsimran Singh and Atharva Taide took calculated risks to take the PowerPlay score to 47/1. In the next over, Axar Patel sent Prabhsimran back to the hut.

Livingstone got a lifeline in the eighth over as he slog-sweep it straight in the hands of Anrich Nortje at deep mid-wicket who dropped a sitter. An over later, Dhull dropped Taide.

The luck was on Taide’s side as he got another lifeline in the 12th over. After hitting Axar for four consecutive boundaries. He looked to slog-sweep but got a top edge to mid-off. Warner ran from the covers but left it for Aman Khan, who ran too long off but the ball was just out of his reach.

Soon Taide brought up his fifty off 38 balls. At the end of the 15th over, he got retired out and PBKS were reeling 128-3.

When Punjab needed 86 runs in 30 balls, Nortje removed Jitesh Sharma. The next over Khaleel dismissed Shahrukh Khan. But Livingston continued to fight from the other end as he collected 20 runs off the 17th over and 59 needed off 18 balls.

Livingstone and Sam Curran took Mukesh Kumar to cleaners, hitting three sixes in the 18th over to bring the equation down to 38 off 12 balls.

Curran started the penultimate over with boundary but Nortje regrouped quickly and cleaned up the former. The next delivery Brar looked to pull but missed it and ended up getting run out.

With 34 needed in 9, Nortje finished the over with two dot balls and a single, leaving 33 runs for the 20th for Ishant Sharma to defend. In the final over, after a dot ball, Livingstone smoked the ball over long-on for a six and followed it with a four. He hammered it out of the ground towards cover and luckily it was a waist-height full toss and the umpire gave it a no-ball.

Livingstone missed a low full toss on a free hit before getting dismissed on the last ball as Delhi wrapped up the win by 15 runs.

Earlier, batting first, DC scored just six runs in the first two overs. The opening duo of Warner and Shaw then shifted gears and collected 55 runs in the next four overs, including seven boundaries and three sixes, to take the Power-Play score to 61 for no loss.

PBKS tried to slow down the run rate with a couple of economical overs. Nathan Ellis created a chance to trap Warner but Rahul Chahar failed to hold on to the catch.

Curran made the job done as he dismissed the Delhi skipper on a slower ball and put an end to 94-run opening partnership. Rossouw then came and took PBKS bowlers to cleaners as Delhi stood strong at 125/1 in 13 overs.

The next over, Shaw brought up his fifty off 36 balls but fell in the 15th over on Sam Curran’s slower short ball. Soon Rossouw completed his fifty with a brace.

He continued with the onslaught along with Phil Salt and the duo added 51 runs in the last three overs as Punjab posted 213/2 in 2 overs.

Brief scores: Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 213/2 in 20 overs (Prithvi Shaw 54 off 38, Riley Rossouw 82 off 37; Sam Curran 2/36) beat Punjab Kings 198/8 (Liam Livingstone 94 off 48, Atharva Taide 55 off 42; Ishant Sharma 2/26, Anrich Nortje 2/36) by 15 runs.