Axar Patel finally comes good with the bat and David Miller provides momentum as Delhi stay alive by beating Punjab Kings

Madhav Tiwari of Delhi Capitals celebrates the wicket of Priyansh Arya of Punjab Kings throughout Match 55. (Picture by Deepak Malik / CREIMAS for IPL)

He continued to impress by the center overs with exhausting lengths and slower balls that held barely within the floor. However his larger contribution was nonetheless to return.

Strolling in in the course of the seventeenth over with Delhi needing 41 runs, Tiwari confirmed composure far past his top-level expertise. He stayed calm beneath strain, utilizing the tempo of the bowlers cleverly fairly than swinging wildly. Tiwari remained unbeaten on 18 off simply eight balls and, alongwith Ashutosh Sharma, took DC residence with an over to spare.

Captain’s knock

Axar Patel’s IPL 2026 as DC captain has hardly gone the best way he would have imagined.

He watched his facet fail to defend 264 runs in opposition to PBKS earlier within the match. He has additionally seen them collapse for 75 in opposition to RCB. By the point DC arrived in Dharamshala on Monday for the must-win conflict, the skipper and his group knew there was no room for error.

That strain solely elevated by the point he walked in with DC positioned at 33/3 within the fifth over. For a number of overs, he appeared scratchy in opposition to the brief ball and was crushed a few instances exterior off. However slowly, he started to settle into the chase.

The turning level got here when he stepped down the observe and smashed Marco Jansen straight again over his head for six. From there, Axar combined aggression with good placement. He picked up boundaries behind sq., used the tempo of the bowlers cleverly and focused something drifting onto his pads. In opposition to Ben Dwarshuis, he lofted one cleanly over mid-off earlier than including one other boundary high quality down the legside.

His strongest section got here in opposition to Marcus Stoinis within the 14th over. Axar hit three consecutive fours to carry up his fifty off 29 balls. Simply when Delhi gave the impression to be constructing momentum once more, Axar fell making an attempt to clear long-on off Stoinis. However his 56 off 30 balls saved Delhi alive within the chase.

Miller’s fireworks

David Miller’s main position in IPL 2026 for DC has been that of a finisher, however his job on Monday was totally different as he walked in along with his facet 74/4 within the ninth over. The required charge was climbing shortly, wickets had fallen in a heap, and the chase wanted somebody to alter the temper. For a while, Miller did precisely that.

The South African began rigorously, getting used to the tempo of the floor earlier than opening up. A flicked boundary off Jansen acquired him going, and shortly the arrogance began exhibiting in his strokeplay.

The second that basically lifted DC got here in opposition to Stoinis. Miller stepped down the observe and smashed a flat six over deep midwicket, a shot hit with the form of energy and certainty that has made him one in all T20 cricket’s most harmful finishers.

Within the sixteenth over, Miller took on Jansen with a flat six behind sq. earlier than pulling one other boundary in entrance of sq.. A couple of balls later, he reached his half-century off simply 28 balls with back-to-back sixes off Ben Dwarshuis.

Transient Scores: PBKS 210/5 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 59 not out; Priyansh Arya 56; Madhav Tiwari 2/40) misplaced to DC 216/7 in 19 overs (Axar Patel 56, David Miller 51; Arshdeep Singh 2/21) by 3 wickets.