Sam Curran became the first half-centurion of Indian Premier League 2024 as Punjab Kings kicked off their IPL 2024 campaign on a high with a four-wicket win against Delhi Capitals at the new stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh. Delhi Capitals posted a competitive total of 174/9 and were able to get there only because of impact substitute Abishek Porel’s 10-ball 32 after they were teetering at 147/8.
Curran then spearheaded the chase with his 47-ball 63 and added 67 with Liam Livingstone as Punjab Kings reached the target with four deliveries to spare.
Fine hitting tonight 🤩
Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone were at their best 🙌
Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱
Match Updates ▶️ https://t.co/ZhjY0W03bC #TATAIPL | #PBKSvDC pic.twitter.com/TNeuOKF9JN
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 23, 2024
An important moment in the game was the arrival of Rishabh Pant to the crease, with the wicketkeeper-batter returning to active cricket for the first time in 450 days since the near-fatal accident in December 2022. Delhi Capitals won just five of their 14 games and narrowly avoided the wooden spoon in IPL 2023, but Ponting is building up to this year’s edition with a sense of optimism, which is in no small measure fuelled by Pant’s comeback.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 174/9 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 33, Abishek Porel 32*; Arshdeep Singh 2-28) lost to Punjab Kings 177/6 in 19.2 overs (Sam Curran 63, Liam Livingstone 38*; Kuldeep Yadav 2-20) by 4 wickets.
The Capitals have four days to unwind before taking on Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on March 28. The Kings, on the other hand, have a shorter turnaround as they face Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 25.
