Delhi Capitals take giant leap towards playoffs with crucial win over Punjab Kings

Mitchell Marsh hit a second successive half century, backing up the 89 he made against Sunrisers Hyderabad with 63 in this vital encounter

Mumbai: Delhi Capitals 159-7, Punjab Kings 142-9 - Delhi Capitals win by 17 runs

Scorecard

Delhi Capitals picked up a crucial win against Punjab Kings in a game with major implications for the playoff hopes of both sides.

Level on points ahead of the fixture, Delhi recovered from losing David Warner to the first ball of the match, before running through Punjab's all-or-nothing batting line-up to win by 17 runs.

Mitchell Marsh hit a second successive half century, backing up the 89 he made against Sunrisers Hyderabad with 63 in this vital encounter, as Capitals – who were invited to bat after losing the toss – reached 159 for 7 from their 20 overs.

Sarfaraz Khan provided the early impetus after Warner's loss, bringing up Delhi's fifty within five overs before falling for 32. Lalit Yadav then took up the mantle as Marsh's support act. At 98 for 2 in the 11th over, Capitals were set for a far greater score than they ultimately reached, with wickets tumbling and new batters struggling to feel comfortable.

Liam Livingstone, who took the new ball on a pitch that offered assistance to the spinners, ended with three wickets. Arshdeep Singh also claimed three victims as Punjab fought back in the second half of the innings.

The run-chase was not dissimilar in its phases: Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan put together a 38-run opening stand inside four overs, but once Bairstow fell to Anrich Nortje, the house of cards tumbled.

^{Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of recent form}

Nine overs later, Punjab were 82 for 7, with Livingstone deceived by Kuldeep Yadav's googly and Dhawan caught behind to give Shardul Thakur one of two wickets in a single over. He ended with figures of 4 for 36.

For the third game running, Mayank Agarwal's move into the middle order didn't pay off – he went to Axar Patel without scoring for the left-arm spinner's hundredth IPL wicket, with Jitesh Sharma the only man beyond the opening pair to offer any resistance until Rahul Chahar's late cameo alongside Sharma gave Punjab a smidgeon of hope.

But Sharma was brilliantly caught by Warner, who dived forward at long-off to intercept a stroke that was struck hard and flat.

With their win, Delhi move ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore on net run rate and into the top four with just a single game remaining.