Prabhsimran ton throws Delhi Capitals out of IPL title contention

Delhi Capitals’ (DC) woes this season continued when they lost to Punjab Kings by 31 runs at the Ferozeshah Kotla grounds of the Arun Jaitley Stadium to slip to the bottom of the points table and out of contention for the playoffs.

This was their eighth loss in 12 matches and even if they were to win the remaining matches, they wouldn’t make it.

It was a typical collapse with the middle and lower order failing in quest of a chase that wasn’t challenging.

Set a target of 168 by Punjab Kings, whose innings revolved around a scintillating century from opener Prabhsimran Singh (103 off 65 balls, 10x4s, 6x6s), DC began well with captain David Warner taking charge.

The Aussie, more dominant of the two openers, added 69 for the first wicket in just over six overs with Phil Salt (21 off 17).

But Salt’s wicket, off the bowling of left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar, opened the floodgates as wickets kept falling regularly.

The Punjab spin duo comprising Brar and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar made things difficult for the host team, as within four overs of the loss of first wicket of Salt as many as five other batsmen were back in the pavilion, leaving DC at 88/6 in 10.1 overs.

Brar (4/30) picked four of the first six wickets while Chahar (2/26) took the other two.

The writing was on the wall after the first half of the DC innings as DC finished at 136/8 in 20 overs.

Earlier, Punjab Kings lost three quick wickets in the powerplay but Prabhsimran kept the scoreboard ticking, and added 72 runs for the fourth wicket in nine overs. The opener was dismissed in the 19^th over.

Punjab Kings moved to sixth spot with 12 points from 12 matches and remain alive in the tournament.