Raza misses out and Punjab Kings lose again

THE absence of Sikandar Raza was once again felt by Indian Premier League (IPL) side, Punjab Kings after suffering yet another defeat without the Zimbabwean in the starting 11.

Losing most of their matches without the Zimbabwean stalwart, the trend continued as Punjab Kings suffered a 15 run defeat at the hands of Delhi Capitals on Wednesday, which was a blow to their top four hopes.

After electing to field first, Punjab Kings limited their opponents to 213/2 in 20 overs before going on to finish on 198/8 in 20 overs.

The defeat was Punjab Kings’ seventh in 13 matches. With Raza in the starting 11, the Shikar Dhawan captained Punjab Kings team have had a better winning ratio. They have won five matches and lost two with Raza and without him, they have lost five and won once. Despite the Chevrons star’s good performances, his team drops him regardless.

In Wednesday’s encounter, the only two wickets that Punjab Kings took in the match were taken by Sam Curran, son of the late former Zimbabwean cricketer, Kevin Curran.

Curran bowled four overs and conceded 36 runs. Delhi Capitals batters were in good touch with South African international, Rilee Rossouw producing a fine innings.

Rossouw put up a player of the match performance after his unbeaten 82 runs from 37 balls while Prithvi Shaw made 54 runs off 38 deliveries. Captain, David Warner fell four runs short of his half century 46 runs after facing 31 deliveries and Phil Salt also remained undefeated on 26 runs from 14 deliveries.

A gallant Liam Livingstone half century was not enough to see Punjab Kings cross the finish line. The Englishman fell in the last ball of the match after a brilliant 94 runs from 48 deliveries. Livingstone was supported by Atharva Taide who retired hurt with 55 runs on the board having faced 42 balls. The only other batter who tried to chip in with a notable score was Prabhsimran Singh who made 22 runs.

Veteran Ishant Sharma and Anrich Nortje took two wickets each for Delhi Capitals, both giving away 36 runs while Khaleel Ahmed and Axar Patel took one each to guide their side to their fifth victory of the season.

In their last round-robin match, Punjab Kings will go up against Rajasthan Royals in Dharamsala today. –@brandon_malvin