Delhi Capitals defended a par total with an excellent performance with the ball to go into the top four of the points table on Monday night. Punjab Kings, who came back strong after a promising start from Delhi, lost their way with the bat as the Delhi Capitals spinners once again – they lost six wickets to the spinners in a total of 115 all out against Delhi earlier in the season – thrived against them.
We raise a few burning questions to dissect the crucial league clash.
How Delhi countered the absence of Shaw with the Sarfaraz move
With Prithvi Shaw still not fully fit, Delhi Capitals needed someone to provide the impetus at the top to keep their template intact. They had Srikar Bharat and Mandeep Singh in the role in the last three games, but the returns were 0, 8 and 0. As a result, Sarfaraz Khan walked into the XI and was pushed up the order to open the batting. A naturally flamboyant player with an ability to access different areas of the ground, Sarfaraz tore into the Punjab attack with his laps and Dilscoops.
While Warner was gone first ball, Delhi still managed a good powerplay thanks to Sarfaraz’s 16-ball 32. 59 runs came inside the first six overs with Mitchell Marsh also showing controlled aggression, but the real impetus came from Sarfaraz, designated to play that exact role and fulfilling it perfectly.
Why DC should have sent in Rishabh Pant earlier
Delhi Capitals might have raced to 59 inside the powerplay overs, but also lost Sarfaraz in the 5th over of the innings. At this stage, with Mitchell Marsh already at the crease, Lalit Yadav, another right-hander, and more of an anchor walked in to bat.
With the Punjab spinners, both of whom turn the ball away from the right-handers, about to come into the attack after the powerplay, it should have been Rishabh Pant walking in instead.
Marsh is limited against spin as he has shown this season – his strike-rate against spin is in the 100s and that against pace is in the 150s. Lalit Yadav is kind of similar although his range against pace too is limited. In the IPL before last night, his strike-rate against spin was 88.6.
With Pant, who has gone mad against spinners this season with a strike-rate of 165.18, perfectly capable of complementing Marsh, it was odd to see Lalit walk in at No.4. He ended up with a 21-ball 24 as Chahar and Brar bowled three combined overs for 20 runs before Pant’s entry.
How Shardul Thakur’s twin blows turned the whole contest
Shardul Thakur’s effectiveness on pitches that turn a bit has been established before. He even showed in the Test series against South Africa that he can be a mighty effective bowler against left-handers with his off-cutters. Here, with the pitch gripping a bit, Shardul struck twice in three balls to send back Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Shikhar Dhawan.
These weren’t two ordinary dismissals though. Bhanuka and Dhawan are the only left-handers in Punjab Kings’ batting core and by losing them in the same over inside the powerplay, Punjab Kings exposed their middle-order to Delhi’s spinners, particularly Axar Patel.
75 of Axar’s 101 wickets in the IPL have come against right-handers. He also averages in the mid-20s against right-handers, but it shoots up to 36 against left-handers. Axar bowling tight spells helped Kuldeep Yadav out of a rut too – he had taken just five wickets in his last six games, going at over nine runs per over in four of those, after a good start to the season – and he sent back Liam Livingstone to leave PBKS at 61/5 and clearly disabled in the run chase.
Why Punjab need Mayank to be less selfless
Mayank Agarwal has moved down the order to accommodate Jonny Bairstow at the top, and the selfless move has come at the cost of his own form, that was already patchy. In the last three matches, Mayank has come in to bat at No.4 once and No.5 twice. Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s success at No.3 meant Punjab sticking with him in that role, but they might need to be smart about it with Mayank and Bhanuka swapping roles based on opposition and team situation.
Here against Delhi, a team that had already bowled them out for 115 earlier in the season with their spin trio, Punjab need a left-hander through the middle overs to counter Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar, but used up their only left-handed middle-order option at No.3. While Bhanuka is clearly in way better touch than Mayank, Punjab need to use it well to counter their weaknesses, especially as he remains their only left-hander after Dhawan in the batting group.
How good has Jitesh Sharma been in a difficult role
Jitesh Sharma has smashed 215 runs at an average of 30.7 and a batting strike-rate of 158.1 in the season. Batting at No.5 or lower in every game this season, Jitesh thrived in a difficult role in his maiden IPL season, but it was a result of him adapting to the role in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Vidarbha.
The wicket-keeper batter, who was a regular opener in previous seasons in the domestic competition, moved down the order in 2022 and ended the season as the player with the most sixes (22) while striking at a rate of 235.1.
Replicating a similar role in the Punjab Kings setup, Jitesh found immediate success with his high intent and clean execution. He is the fourth-highest run-scorer for Punjab in the season behind Dhawan, Livingstone and Bairstow, and also is one of the only three players in the team to strike at a rate of over 150.
On Monday, he carried the team till the end with a valiant 44 off 34 balls, but couldn’t quite get them over the finish line. Still in his maiden season, Jitesh Sharma, bought for just INR 20 lakhs in the auction, is already arguably turning into the best buy.
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