The Punjab Kings defeated Delhi Capitals by 31 runs. As a result, PBKS rose to sixth place, while DC remained the last.
PBKS batted first and produced a modest total of 167/7 in 20 overs. Prabhsimran Singh (103 runs off 65 balls) led the PBKS batting attack with a spectacular century. On a turning track, Singh hit 10 fours and 10 sixes with a strike rate of 158.46.
His strike was crucial since none of the other PBKS batters seemed comfortable and managed to make a meaningful score. Ishant Sharma (3-0-27-2), Mukesh Kumar (1-0-3-1), and Axar Patel (4-0-27-1) were the bowlers of choice for Delhi Capitals.
In response, David Warner (54 runs off 27 balls) and Phil Salt (21 runs off 17 balls) put on a 69-run opening stand. However, once Phil Salt was removed, the floodgates opened and wickets continued to fall for DC. Harpreet Brar (4-0-30-4) and Rahul Chahar (4-0-16-2) were absolutely unplayable on a surface that aided them.
Delhi Capitals eventually slumped from 69/1 in 6.2 overs to 136/8 at the conclusion of their 20 overs. After this heartbreaking defeat from a winning position, DC were officially eliminated from the Tata IPL 2023.
Take a look at three reasons why DC was eliminated from the Tata IPL 2023:
1) DC management’s Questionable decisions
Axar Patel was the only Indian player who was in strong batting form. Patel has scored 268 runs in 12 matches this year, with a strike rate of 137.44 and an average of 137.44.
Throughout the IPL season, though, he batted at No. 7 or No. 8. Despite many suggestions from experts to move him up the batting order to maximise his form and ability.
If Patel had been moved up the batting order, the outcome of at least 2-3 matches for DC may have been different. The decision to chop and shift the side meant that none of the players felt confident in their place or found the required space to find their footing.
2) Indian batters’ poor performance
DC has made significant investments in young Indian talent. The franchise’s entire middle order was nearly exclusively made up of homegrown players. After losing senior Indian veterans like Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer before IPL 2022, and Rishabh Pant missing out due to injury, there was a lot of pressure on these young players like Aman Khan, Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Ripal Patel, Abishek Porel, Manish Pandey, Yash Dhull, Priyam Garg, Lalit Yadav, and Praveen Dubey.
Prithvi Shaw is one of the most prominent examples of DC supporting a youngster and him failing to produce. Before the IPL 2022 Mega-Auction, DC chose him over experienced opener Shikhar Dhawan.
Prithvi Shaw scored 47 runs in six matches this year, with a strike rate of 117.50 and an average of 7.83.
3) Bad form of overseas stars
With captain Rishabh Pant out, the DC management was counting on international talents like Rilee Rossouw and Mitchell Marsh to perform for the team.
After an outstanding 2022 season in which he excelled for South Africa in T20Is, including the 2022 World Cup, DC had high hopes for Rossow ahead of the IPL 2023. However, he only scored 127 runs in seven matches this year, with a strike rate of 123.30 and an average of 21.17.
Mitchell Marsh was a standout with the ball, taking 12 wickets in nine matches at a remarkable economy rate of 8.43. His bat returns, on the other hand, were quite average. He has scored 128 runs in nine matches, with an average of 14.22 and a strike rate of 131.96. So far this season, he has only one half-century. The poor form of these two top international talents exposed the DC batting.
Despite performing phenomenally in the previous year, the team failed to deliver as expected this season.
