Shardul Thakur chokes Punjab to lead Delhi to 17-run win

Two wickets by Shardul Thakur in his first over, the last over of Power Play, put Delhi Capitals on the path to victory against Punjab Kings at DY Patil Stadium on Monday. The Mumbai right-arm medium-pacer eventually finished with four for 36 in his four overs to bowl Delhi Capitals to a 17-run victory and help his team to climb to fourth in the points table, improving their chances of making the Play Offs.

Defending 159, Delhi Capitals needed early wickets and their spinners had to strike on a pitch that was assisting the slow bowlers with the turn. However, it was the medium-pacers that gave them the vital breakthroughs, though they gave away runs aplenty in the first three overs when Jonny Bairstow was going after the leather.

Continuing in the same vein, Bairstow, who was playing the cut and pull with ease and finding the boundaries, pulled South African pacer Anrich Nortje straight to deep mid-wicket Axar Patel for 28 (15 balls, 4x4, 1x6). His dismissal at 38 in the fourth over was a much-needed breakthrough for DC.

But, with Shikhar Dhawan and the big-hitting Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the middle and the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Liam Livingstone to follow, PBKS were still the favourites to win. They also had luck on their side as in off-spinner Lalit Yadav’s first over, Dhawan and Rajapaksa ended up on the same side after the former took off playing into the bowler’s hands. However, in his pick-up and throw in one action while losing his balance, the ball went wayward.

PBKS did not capitalise on this moment. Despite Dhawan cutting him to third man and Rajapaksa’s attempted pull took the top edge for fours, Thakur was not demoralised. He bowled similar lengths, Dhawan went for a repeat stroke but ended up edging to wicketkeeper Pant. This was a ball after Rajapaksa tried playing on the on side but took the leading edge to backward point fielder.

Thakur persisted with identical deliveries that were hit for fours by Dhawan and Rajapaksa and was rewarded with their wickets in the same over. From a healthy 53 for one in the sixth over, PBKS lost two wickets in the space of three deliveries for an additional run.

These two wickets in one Thakur over put pressure on Liam Livingstone and captain Mayank Agarwal, who eventually succumbed to the slow bowlers. Agarwal had no clue to an Axar Patel delivery as he shaped to cut and was in an awkward position as the ball went through the gap to be bowled for a second-ball duck.

Like Thakur, Patel struck in his first over and so too did the left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. PBKS’ last hope, Livingstone charged down the pitch too early without spending time on it. He has hit some of the big sixes in this IPL without leaving his crease. On a pitch that was assisting spinners, he ought to have played spinners on merit. Instead, he went down the track with the hope of depositing Kuldeep Yadav over long-on, just that he missed the line and was way down the track that Pant had all the time in the world to whip a bail off gently.

PBKS, in that passage of play, lost five wickets in the space of four overs – dropping from 58 for one in 5.3 overs to 67 for six in 9.3 overs – Kuldeep even accounting for Harpreet Singh Brar, bowling him through his defence.

While the spinners wiped out the PBKS middle-order batsmen, the twin strikes by Thakur in his first over made a huge difference in DC winning the match comfortably. Thakur eventually came for his second spell in the end to pick up two more, those of PBKS top-scorer Jitesh Sharma and Kagiso Rabada in the 18^th over and shine in his team’s comfortable victory.