DC vs PBKS, IPL 2022: The Sarfaraz show, Livingstone with the ball and other talking points – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Shardul Thakur took 4-36 to bowl Delhi Capitals to consecutive wins for the first time in the Indian Premier League as they beat Punjab Kings by 17 runs on Monday. The win kept Delhi in the hunt for a top-four playoffs spot, while Punjab’s hopes took a massive blow.

Delhi was fourth, climbing over Royal Challengers Bangalore on run-rate. Delhi and Bangalore need to win their final round-robin games to vie for the last playoffs berth. Punjab was seventh and its last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday could be rendered moot. Mitchell Marsh scored 63 off 48 balls to help Delhi total 159-7. Punjab could make only 142-9 at DY Patil Stadium.

Here are some of the key talking points from Match 64 of the 15th edition of the league:

Sarfaraz fills in for Shaw

Sarfaraz Khan made his comeback into the Delhi Capitals XI for the crucial tie, replacing KS Bharat and opening the innings for the first time this season. And after the early jolt to the Capitals with David Warner departing for a golden duck, Khan rose to the occasion with a fearless display, smashing 32 off just 16 balls including five-fours and a maximum.

Sarfaraz Khan struck a 16-ball 32 against Punjab Kings in his first game as an opener for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022. Sportzpics

Though Prithvi Shaw is expected to slot right back in at the top once he recovers to full fitness, Delhi will know they have a worthy back-up in Khan should Shaw miss out on the remaining games.

One Aussie flops, another shines

It wasn’t quite an ideal day in the office for Warner, who was dismissed off the very first delivery of the evening off Livingstone’s bowling, and later dropped at sitter near the boundary to deny Shardul Thakur a five-for.

Marsh, though, continued his fine run with the bat as he brought up his second half-century on the trot, collecting 63 off 48 balls including four fours and three sixes. While he played a supporting role during the second-wicket stand with Sarfaraz, in which the latter was the primary aggressor, he did well to accumulate runs at a steady pace thereafter. Had he stuck till the very end, Delhi could very well have breached the 180-mark, but he was dismissed by Rabada in the second ball of the penultimate over.

Shardul’s superb over sets the tone

Thakur ended up bagging the Player of the Match award for a career-best haul of 4/36 — his first-ever four-fer in the IPL. While he did well to close out on a tidy note in the slog overs, it was his double-strike in the final over of the powerplay, in which he removed the in-form pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa in a space of a few deliveries that set the tone for the remainder of the Punjab innings.

Delhi Capitals’ Shardul Thakur registered his career-best figures with a haul of 4/36 against Punjab Kings. Sportzpics

Jonny Bairstow after all had got the Kings off to a promising start with a knock of 28 off 15 deliveries before getting dismissed off Anrich Nortje’s bowling. The threat of Dhawan and Rajapaksa reviving the Punjab chase lingered, and Delhi did breathe a lot easier once they saw their backs at the end of the sixth over

Livingstone turns it both ways

Englishman Liam Livingstone certainly has been the most valuable player for the Punjab Kings this season, and has more than justified the Rs 11.5 crore shelled out by the side at the mega auction earlier this year.

Punjab Kings’ Liam Livingstone celebrates after removing Delhi Capitals opener David Warner off the first delivery of the match. Sportzpics

Livingstone has been among the most prolific run-getters this season and though he wasn’t among the runs against Delhi on Monday, getting dismissed for 7, he proved his worth with the ball with a haul of 3/27 from four, which played a big part in containing the Capitals.

For a change, Punjab skipper Mayank Agarwal decided to toss the ball to the Englishman at the start of the innings, and Livingstone immediately delivered by getting rid of Warner off the first delivery. Livingstone would later snuff out the Rishabh Pant threat by getting him stumped, before dismissing Rovman Powell soon after.

What was especially interesting was the fact that he removed Warner and Pant with off-spin, and got rid of Powell with a leg-break.

Jitesh continues to prove handy down the order

Punjab appeared done and dusted after the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel (both 2/14) ran through their middle order following Nortje’s dismissal of Bairstow and Thakur’s double-strike, with the side reduced to 82/7 at one stage.

Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma though, refused to give up and his innings of 44 off 34 deliveries, together with Rahul Chahar’s useful cameo (25 not out off 24) gave the Kings a slim chance, even if the required rate was starting to get out of hand.

He ultimately became Thakur’s third wicket of the evening with Warner pulling off an outstanding catch at long off, departing after collecting three fours and two maximums and falling just six short of what would’ve been his maiden IPL fifty.

With inputs from AP

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