New Delhi, May 14 () Skipper David Warner wants Delhi Capitals to play their remaining IPL 2023 matches for pride and with freedom after his team got eliminated from the tournament with a loss against Punjab Kings on Saturday night.
Lion-hearted Prabhsimran Singh (103 off 65) and brave Harbreet Brat (4/30) set the stage on fire as they powered Punjab Kings to a convincing 31-run win over Delhi Capitals in Match 59 of IPL 2023 at the Arun Jaitley stadium, here.
With the win, Punjab moved up to the sixth position in the points table with six victories in 12 matches and kept their playoffs hopes alive, On the other hand, Delhi remained at the bottom of the points table with just 4 wins in 12 matches as they are now out of the race for the playoffs by their own merit.
“You got to play for pride, and play with freedom [in the remaining games],” said Warner during that post-match presentation.
Opener Prabhsimran’s maiden IPL century guided Punjab Kings to a competitive 167/7 in 20 overs. Punjab were struggling at 45/3 but Prabhsimran stitched a vital stand of 72 runs off 54 balls for the fourth wicket with Sam Curran to get them out of trouble.
Chasing a fighting total, Delhi Capitals were going strong, with Warner and Phil Salt taking their side to 65/0 after 6 overs. It was Brar, who eventually gave Punjab their first breakthrough in the 7th over by removing Salt (21). However, Warner continued his aggressive intent and reached his 60th fifty in the IPL off 23 balls.
Though Warner was going strong, he didn’t get support from the other end with Mitchell Marsh and Rilee Rossouw getting out cheaply against Punjab spinners. Eventually, Warner (54 off 27) also got to Harpreet Brar in the 9th over, which started Delhi Capitals downslide in the run-chase as they could not recover as the task became too big for the lower-order batters.
“It was about trying to restrict them (PBKS) to a decent total. They got more than we would have liked. Prabhsimran batted really well, dropped chances cost us a few. At the end of the day after the powerplay when you lose 6 for 30 not going to win a lot of games,” Warner said.
“Another disappointing effort with the bat after the good start we had. When you lose they are the things that happen in this format [on chopping and changing of their team]. We found the right combination but we keep losing 3-4 quick wickets and you can’t do that at this level,” he added.
Both Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals play each other in their next encounter, which takes place in Dharamshala on May 17.
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