Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: Delhi Capitals were penalized during their IPL 2026 clash against Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala after failing to complete their overs within the allotted time.Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel won the toss and opted to field first, but the visitors tried hard to contain Punjab Kings’ explosive batting line-up. A slow speeding penalty came in the 20th over of the inning, forcing DC to keep only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle instead of the allowed five.
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Venugopal Rao admits DC failed after another defeatPunjab Kings made full use of this advantage, amassing a massive 210/5 in their 20 overs – their highest first innings total against Delhi Capitals in IPL history.The innings was powered by another sensational knock from Priyansh Arya who blasted 56 off just 33 balls while skipper Shreyas Iyer anchored the innings with an unbeaten 59 off 36 deliveries.Punjab Kings got off to a flying start in the powerplay as they smashed 72 runs in the first six overs at a rate of 12.00 including four boundaries and six sixes. Although Delhi Capitals pulled things back briefly in the middle overs, PBKS stepped up again at the death and hammered 61 runs with five sixes in the last five overs.Mitchell Starc and Madhav Tiwari took two wickets each for Delhi Capitals. However, it turned out to be a memorable outing for Starc, who conceded 57 runs – the most expensive spell of his IPL career. It was also the second most runs he had conceded in any T20 innings behind the 60 he put up against New Zealand during the 2021 T20 World Cup final in Dubai.The Punjab Kings’ batting fireworks also continued their remarkable trend of 200+ totals. PBKS now have seven scores above 200 in IPL 2026, just one behind the joint IPL record of eight achieved by Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026.Interestingly, Delhi Capitals bowled at all paces during the innings, marking the 13th time a team bowled all 20 overs of pace in an IPL innings and the first such occurrence since 2016.
