PBKS vs DC

11:46 PM IST: Right then, that brings us to the end of our coverage for this encounter and we are yet to find out who will be our top two teams. We have the final double header game tomorrow. Gujarat Titans will get an opportunity to try and finish at the top two when they square off against the Chennai Super Kings in the afternoon game while the two eliminated teams Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders will look to end their season on a high. Like always it was a pleasure bringing all the live coverage from this encounter but for now this is myself (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Lavil Saldanha. Goodnight!

Sameer Rizvi is the Player of the Match, here is what he had to say: Feeling great especially with the hard work I have done in the last three months. I didn't had the confidence of scoring runs but once you get one knock under you, it gets easier. When I went out there, I took a few balls before starting to play my shots.

Faf du Plessis (Delhi Capitals captain): Yeah I think it is very important that fifth is a fair reflection. To end up on top four you need to play some consistent cricket. It's one of those great mysteries. Combination of lack of confidence, loss of form. Every single time there was five six over window where we let it loose. IPL is all about the young guys, the domestic guys. Vipraj played brilliantly, it's rare for a leg spinner to be an all-rounder. If they work hard, we will have some quality batters in the future.

Karun Nair [Delhi Capitals]: We truly deserve this; we haven't been playing good cricket. I have been hitting the ball very well and have come with enough confidence, and am showing it in the nets. I was a bit hurried in the nets and playing too many shots. The coaches told me to take some time and play my shots. First of all, very grateful, happy, and proud. How I found out was like how the others found out, and then I got a lot of messages from my close ones. Like I said, I have been batting well for the last 12-16 games, and it is working well to play for me.

Shreyas Iyer [captain, Punjab Kings]: I felt it was a fantastic score on the table, and there was good bounce on this surface, and I felt we were above par. Once we read the wicket, we knew we were going to bowl hard lengths, but went overboard. A great learning for the boys overall. It is bigger than the Premier League, every team is equally poised. You see to it that you aren't dwelling too much on what is happening today. We have to go back to the drawing board, see where we went wrong, and come in with a strong set of plans. Finger should be fine in the next game

11:25 PM IST: Delhi Capitals won by 6 wickets (with three deliveries to spare)

Sameer Rizvi 58*(25) | Mustafizur Rahman 3/33(4)
Shreyas Iyer 53(34) | Harpreet Brar 2/41(4)


The Delhi Capitals managed to finish their campaign with a hard fought win against the Punjab Kings and that means, all the top three teams have dropped points in their last three matches. The fight for the top two spots in the points table lingers on as we will only find out the top two after the game on Tuesday. The run chase of 207 was doing to be stiff for Delhi as they were coming off a string of defeats but they had the talent to chase it down. 

KL Rahul and Faf du Plessis started off quite well and found the boundaries on a consistent basis. The duo shared a 55 run partnership when KL Rahul chipped a Marco Jansen length delivery straight to the mid off fielder. Just when Faf du Plessis started taking the charge, he was dismissed by Harpreet Brar as Punjab Kings started to take the ascendancy. However the partnership of Karun Nair and Sediquallah Atal again brought DC back into the game. 

They complemented each other well and found the boundaries pretty consistently. Atal was dismissed by Pravin Dubey but in the end over, Karun smashed four boundaries off back to back deliveries to keep up the momentum. He was joined by Sameer Rizvi out in the middle and the duo batted brilliantly and never allowed the required rate to creep up. Karun was eventually castled by Harpreet in the 15th over. 

From there on, it was Sameer Ri,vi who took the onus on himself to play the big shots. Whenever the pressure was building, Rizvi struck some extraordinary shots to take them near the target. His swivel pull in the penultimate over of Arshdeep Singh was perhaps the shot of the day. He then finished it off with a stunning sweep which we t well over backward square leg to hand DC a memorable 6 wicket victory.

11:22 PM IST: Delhi Capitals have thrashed the Punjab Kings in their final IPL match of the season. Too near yet too far but they will be pretty proud of their performance today. Sameer Rizvi, you beauty. The youngster saved his best for the last. The final shot was a testimony of how well this bloke can hit the ball. We are yet to find the top two teams and the Punjab Kings won't be too happy to have left the opportunity of qualifying in the top two. They can still make it but have to depend on other results. For now, DC can celebrate this win and try to come back stronger next year. 

19.3 Marcus Stoinis to Sameer Rizvi, SIX! GAME, SET AND MATCH FOR DC! Full and on the line of the middle and leg stump, Rizvi gets under that one and smokes that one deep into the stands for a maximum to end the game. Delhi Capitals beat Punjab Kings by six wickets and the Top 2 spots are all up for grabs again!

A top quality shot Tristan Stubbs to end the over but the shot of the match was the Rizvi swivel pull in that over which brought the equation down considerably and from there on it looked a pretty straightforward task. Now Marcus Stoinis has to do something really special to make PBKS win this from here.