NEW DELHI: Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel vented frustration at his team’s fielding after a string of expensive missteps cost them the match, even though they posted a huge 264/2 in their 20 overs. Karun Nair twice let go of chances involving Shreyas Iyer in the same over off Kuldeep Yadav, a moment that swung the contest. Iyer, who survived those reprieves, went on to strike an unbeaten 71 off 36 balls and steer Punjab Kings to a six-wicket victory with seven balls still remaining as they successfully chased down 265 on Saturday.
It also mattered historically: Punjab Kings already own the top mark for the biggest successful chase in T20s and in IPL records. They had previously chased 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024.
“When I look at the way the wicket played, if you don’t back your bowlers and keep handing out so many chances, I believe we deserved to lose. That’s the main thing,” Axar said during the post-match presentation, visibly disappointed.
Delhi Capitals had earlier built their platform on the back of KL Rahul’s blistering knock of 152, which was the third-highest individual score in IPL history. Nitish Rana then contributed 91 as the hosts reached 264/2.
In response, Prabhsimran Singh struck 76 and Priyansh Arya made 73, giving Punjab a flying start. Together they added 126 runs in only 42 deliveries, setting the chase up perfectly.
“It was a good wicket and a small ground, so you knew sixes would come. But whenever opportunities show up and you don’t take even one, you end up losing momentum—just like we did today. On a pitch like this, if you don’t support your bowlers, it becomes tough. At the same time, we also have to assess our bowling. The way we executed in the powerplay, our fast bowlers, the fielding, and the chances we failed to take were the main reasons. On a surface like this, 264 is a very strong total,” Axar said.
“If you consider the positives, we scored 264, which is a record in the Indian Premier League. It also shows that if a bit of luck goes your way and you take your catches, you can win two or three games in a row,” he added.
Axar further pointed to how tight several of Delhi’s defeats have been. “If you look at the games we’re losing, many have been close. That’s what I said even at the toss—if we can grab the crucial moments, then two or three outcomes could have gone our way and we would have kept winning. But the key is that you must seize those moments. It can’t be that you keep arriving with the same story and repeating the same mistakes. So we’ll go back, review again, and figure out where we can improve,” he said.
Punjab Kings, meanwhile, remain unbeaten in the season and sit at the top of the points table with 13 points from seven matches.
