New Delhi: A win over Delhi Capitals would have taken Punjab Kings to the top of the IPL 2026 points table. However, it was not to be as Punjab Kings suffered their fourth straight defeat of the season, beating Delhi Capitals by three wickets in Dharamsala.The disappointment and frustration on the Punjab Kings captain was palpable. Shreyas IyerThe face during the post-match presentation.
Asked to bat first by Delhi Capitals, Priyansh Arya hit six sixes during his 33-ball 56 before DC Pacers smartly adjusted their length to restrict Punjab Kings to 210/5.In reply, aggressive half-centuries from David Miller (51 off 28) and skipper Axar Patel (56 off 30) took Delhi Capitals to 211/7 in 19 overs – the most successful chase at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.“(Where it went wrong) I’m not going to beat around the bush; I’m just going to repeat the fielding and bowling,” Iyer said after the match.“(If he thought 210 was a good score) absolutely, I think 30 runs was too much on that wicket considering how the ball was seaming and it had variable bounce.”“(On Chahal’s bowling) I had exactly one idea in mind, but the way the ball was seaming and the way it was helping the seamers, I think if we executed our line and length correctly we could have got wickets, but unfortunately again, we didn’t.”Explaining the ideal bowling strategy on the Dharamsala pitch, the PBKS captain said:“(How to bowl here) still on the surface. I always say that hard length – less than hard length – is the best ball, especially when a new batsman is coming in. It’s not easy to hit because if you keep repeating those balls, at least one ball gives a chance to mishit and you can get a wicket. We got down to planning,” Ayler said.The win helped Delhi Capitals move to the seventh spot in the IPL 2026 standings. DC have now played 12 matches, with five wins and seven losses, with 10 points and a net run rate of -0.993.Punjab Kings, despite the loss, are fourth with 13 points from 11 matches, having recorded six wins and four losses, while one match ended in a draw. His net run rate is +0.428.Punjab Kings’ next match will be against Mumbai Indians on May 14.
