Delhi Capitals dealt a hammer blow to Punjab Kings' chances of qualifying for the Play-offs as they beat the hosts by 15 runs in Match 64 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.

A commanding batting performance led by Rilee Rossouw (82* off 37) helped the away side post a daunting 213/2 after the openers David Warner (46 off 31) and comeback man Prithvi Shaw (54 off 38) had added 94 for the opening wicket. A collective bowling effort then saw the DC bowlers survive Livingstone(94 off 48) scare as they restricted PBKS to 198/8 and won the match by 15 runs.

Chasing 214, Punjab Kings stuttered at the start as they lost captain Shikhar Dhawan early. Khaleel Ahmed bowled a fantastic first over for a maiden and then Ishan Sharma struck with his first ball, having Dhawan caught at slip in the second over. Prabhsimran Singh then took the aggressive route as he combined power with placement to hit four fours, including three back to back fours off Ishant Sharma. Atharva Taide took the attack to Anich Nortje in the next over, cracking a four and a six and then hitting a four and a six off Mukesh Kumar but PBKS got lucky off the last ball of the over as the keeper missed a run out with Prabhsimran set off for a bye but was sent back by Taide. A direct hit would have been curtains for the PBKS opener. The home side reached 47/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

Axar Patel came into the attack and struck straightaway to provide the breakthrough as he had Prabhsimran (22 off 19) caught at wide long on. DC could have had a couple more but Nortje dropped Liam Livingstone and Yash Dhull dropped Atharva Taide in one Kuldeep Yadav over. Livingstone rubbed salt into the wounds cracking a huge six off the penultimate ball of the over as PBKS reached 75/2 at the halfway stage. Luck continued to favour PBKS as Livingstone and Taide survived run outs off the same ball trying to run through for a risky single and then an overthrow. Taide and Livingstone were living dangerously as a couple of mistimed shots fell short of the fieders. The duo hit 15 runs off Axar and 12 runs off Nortje as Taide brought up his fifty off 38 balls. Kuldeep then bowled a tight over, conceding just five off the over.

The required run rate creeped over 16 and then Livingstone cracked a couple of fours off Mukesh Kumar before a tactical move saw PBKS retire out Atharva Taide in the 15th over which brought in Jitesh Sharma. He didn't last long though as he departed without opening his account. The new batter Shahrukh Khan opened his account with a six first ball to bring the equation to 79 needed off 24. Livingstone then switched on the fifth gear as hit a four off a no ball from Khaleel to bring up his fifty off 30 balls and then smashed a massive six straight down the ground off the Free Hit. Khaleel though bounced back to have Shahrukh Khan caught at long on. Livingstone smacked another six as PBKS amassed 20 off the over.

With 59 needed off 18, Livingstone and Curran hammered three sixes off Mukesh Kumar to bring the equation down to 38 off 22. Curran cracked a four off the first ball of the penultimate over from Nortje but the South African pacer hit back hard to knock down his leg stump off the next ball. PBKS lost two in two as Harpreet Brar was run out at the bowler's end, scampering through for a bye to get Livingstone on strike. Nortje bowled a brilliant over, giving away just five. With 33 needed off the last over, Ishant started off with a dot. But it all got nervous for the DC camp as Livingstone smacked a six over long on and thumped a four over covers. Ishant then bowled a waist high no ball which Livinstone smashed over extra cover for another six as the equation came down to 16 off 3. Livingstone then missed his swing off a full toss as DC heaved a sigh of relief. The England batter mistimed the next one over cover and didn't run. He smashed the last ball straight into the hands of the long off fielder as DC won the match by 15 runs.

Earlier, Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and elected to bowl. They made three changes to the starting XI as Atharva Taide, Nathan Ellis and Kagiso Rabada replaced Prabhsimran Singh, Sikandar Raza and Rishi Dhawan. They named Prabhsimran Singh, Sikandar Raza, Matthew Short, Rishi Dhawan and Mohit Rathee as their substitutes.

Delhi Capitals too made three changes to the starting eleven as Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull and Anrich Nortje replaced Mukesh Kumar, Pravin Dubey and Mitchell Marsh. Mukesh Kumar, Abishek Porel, Ripal Pate, Pravin Dubey and Sarfaraz Khan made it to the away side's substitutes list.

The Punjab Kings bowlers started off well as Kagiso Rabad bowled a fiery second over which had the batters hopping. The home side didn't concede a four in the first two overs. David Warner then finally provided some impetus as he thumped one over cover-point and pulled the next one off a top-edge to fine leg for back to back fours off Sam Curran in the third over. Shaw then got his first four as he smacked a short one over point for a four off Rabada. Warner then flicked one over deep square leg for an effortless six and then combined power two balls later to smack a pull over deep mid-wicket for the second six in the over as the away side amassed 17 off the over. Shaw welcomed Arshdeep Singh into the attack with two fours and a six to take DC past fifty in the fifth over.

Warner kept playing some effortless strokes as he placed a couple through cover-point and third man for consecutive fours off Nathan Ellis as DC reached 61/0 at the end of Powerplay.

Shaw continued the momentum in the next over as he welcomed Rahul Chahar into the attack with a couple of well-placed fours. After a couple of quiet overs, the DC captain got a reprieve in the 10th over as he miscued loft high over point and Rahul Chahar put down a tough catch running backwards. Warner's (46 off 31) luck didn't last long though as he top edged his pull towards mid off and Dhawan ran in from extra cover to pull off a splendid catch.

Rilee Rossouw got into the groove straightaway with two well timed fours off his first three balls in the roller-coaster Curran over. Rossouw had come out with an attacking intent and he took on Rabada in the next over, cracking two sixes and a four. Shaw then brought up his 13th IPL fifty, off 36 balls. Rossouw took the pressure off Shaw and was in the mood as he smashed a 91m six out of the ground. However, against the run of play, Curran bounced back to remove Shaw (54 off 38) as he mistimed his pull to deep square leg. Rossouw then brought up his maiden IPL fifty, off just 25 balls. Things got slower for a couple of overs before Salt and Rossouw picked them up and provided the final flourish smashing four sixes and three fours in the last two overs to amass 41 runs and power DC to a daunting 213/2.

Rilee Rossouw remained unbeaten on 82 off 37 balls while Phil Salt remained not out on 26 off 14.

Punjab Kings introduced Prabhsimran Singh, who walked out to open the batting, as their Impact Player, replacing Nathan Ellis while DC brought on Mukesh Kumar as their Impact Player, replacing Prithvi Shaw, at the start of the second innings.