A fantastic opening for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) as they defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) by 4 wickets.
After winning the toss, Punjab opted to bowl first.
Most of the batsmen in the Delhi team played well but none of them scored much. Shai Hope (33 runs) was the highest scorer from the side. Abhishek Porel (32 runs not out) in the end showed a full picture of destruction as he played just 10 balls and hit 4 fours and 2 sixes in his knock.
Skipper Rishabh Pant (19 runs) played his first match after 453 days but was unable to capitalize it well. Despite being dropped earlier in his knock, he was unable to take advantage and got out early.
Therefore in the end, the team finally ended up 174 runs in 20 overs by losing 9 wickets.
Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel got 2 wickets each while Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar got 1 wicket each.
During the chase, Punjab struggled a little in the middle as they lost 2 wickets in just 42 runs after getting a solid start in the powerplay. But Sam Curran (63 runs) took out the nerves for the team and after a destructive 2023 season he scored a brilliant half-century in the very first match of the team.
Curran played 47 balls and hit 6 fours and a six. He along with Liam Livingstone (38 not out) put on 67 runs for the 5th wicket. In the end the team chased down the target in 19.2 overs and scored 177 runs by 6 losing wickets.
Kuldeep Yadav again showed his strength by taking 2 wickets and giving away only 20 runs. Khaleel Ahmed also got 2 wickets. Ishant Sharma got 1 wicket.