Watch: David Warner changes strike seeing Liam Livingstone as opening bowler; turns out to be a bad decision.

The Delhi Capitals managed to give their playoffs qualification hopes a major boost by registering a 17-run win against the Punjab Kings. The result takes them to the fourth position on the points table and keeps them well in control of their fate in the future of the tournament. 

But despite the clinical win from Delhi, there were several moments in the game where Punjab looked in control over their fellow north Indian rivals. In fact, the first of such moments came right at the start of Delhi’s batting innings, when Liam Livingstone managed to dismiss David Warner off the first ball of the match. 

Warner swaps strike with Sarfaraz; move backfires 

What was really interesting about the wicket was that Warner wasn’t even supposed to face that delivery. Initially, it was Sarfaraz Khan- replacing KS Bharat at the top who strode into the crease and looked all set to take Punjab’s opening bowler. This season, the Mayank Agarwal-led Punjab side has backed of their fast bowlers, like Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, and Sandeep Sharma to start off the innings’ proceedings. 

However, this time around, Agarwal decided to entrust part-time leg-spinner, Liam Livingstone, with that job. And as soon as Warner realized this change, he swapped positions with Sarfaraz and readied himself to play the first ball. But as it turned out, the decision backfired big time, as Warner holed a catch to Rahul Chahar at backward point and walked off the ground without disturbing the scoreboard.

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Match Summary

Warner’s dismissal had a trigger effect on Sarfaraz at the other end, who scored a quickfire 32 off 16 to make his batting promotion count. He and Mitch Marsh (63 off 48) stitched a 51 run partnership that built the foundation for Delhi’s batting. However, some intelligent bowling from Punjab towards the end restricted the Capitals to an under-par score of 159.

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In response, the Punjab batters started off briskly in the run chase, but losing regular wickets to Shardul Thakur (4/36) and the DC spinners on the other end really derailed their cause. Young wicket-keeper bat Jitesh Sharma smoked a few good-looking shots towards the end to lend some substance to Punjab’s batting effort, but ultimately, the Kings fell short by 17 runs. The result jeopardizes Punjab’s chances of featuring in this year’s tournament’s playoffs; while Delhi managed to leapfrog Bangalore to the number four spot and stand out as prime contenders to make it to the top 4. 

Brief scores: Delhi 159/9 (Marsh 63, Sarfaraz 32, Shardul 4/36) beat Punjab 142/9 (Jitesh 44, Bairstow 28, Arshdeep 3/ 37) by 17 runs.