Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer was critical of the bowlers and the fielding effort as they suffered their fourth consecutive loss in IPL 2026. Delhi Capitals chased down a 211-run target as Punjab Kings slumped to a 3-wicket loss in Dharamsala. PBKS were somewhat lacklustre in the field with a couple of dropped catches and despite Arshdeep Singh and Yash Thakur providing them with early breakthroughs, David Miller and Axar Patel slammed half-centuries to clinch the match for their side. Following the loss, Shreyas said that they were short of planning and even claimed that they were 30 runs above par on the surface.
“I won’t beat around the bush; I’ll just say fielding and bowling again. (If he thought 210 was a good score) Absolutely, I feel that it was 30 runs more on this wicket considering how the ball was seaming and there was variable bounce.”
“(On bowling Chahal) There was absolutely a thought in my mind, but the way ball was seaming and the way it was helping seamers, I think if we would have executed our line and length precisely, we could have been able to extract wickets, but unfortunately again, we didn’t. (on how to bowl here) Still into the surface. I always say that the hard length – short of a 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 of mis-hitting and you can get a wicket. We’ve been short of planning,” Shreyas said.
Sent in to bat, Priyansh Arya (56 off 33) and Prabhsimran Singh (18) shared 78 runs off 41 balls for the opening wicket for PBKS. After their departure, Shreyas Iyer (59 not out off 36 balls) and Cooper Connolly (38 off 27) took responsibility to carry the innings forward as PBKS posted 210 for five.
In reply, DC slipped to 74 for four but Axar (56) and Miller (51) resurrected the chase, while Ashutosh Sharma and Madhav Tiwari completed the task, scoring 216 for seven in 19 overs.
Mitchell Starc (2/57) and Madhav (2/40) picked up two wickets each for DC.
For PBKS, Arshdeep Singh (2/21), Ben Dwarshuis (1/51) and Marcus Stoinis (1/44) were among the wicket-takers.
(With PTI inputs)