Dharamsala: Priyansh Arya hit half a dozen sixes in his whirlwind 33-ball 56 before Delhi Capitals pacers tweaked their lengths to limit Punjab Kings to 210 for five in the Indian Premier League Monday.
DC, struggling to stay alive in the tournament, opted to field in the first game of the season at the scenic venue after making five changes to their side.
The ball generally flies off the bat in the high altitude of Dharamsala and that was very much evident in the first over of the game from Mitchell Starc, who proved rather expensive on the night.
Priyansh took the veteran Australian pacer to the cleaners in the over that went for 22 runs.
His onslaught included a six square of the wicket on either side. The southpaw not only dispatched Starc for a first-ball six, but he also meted out the same treatment to the wily Lungi Ngidi and Mukesh Kumar.
Starc understandably went all-in to search for the swing, but DC pacers realised that bowling full was not the way to go on this surface after conceding 51 runs from the first three overs.
Aquib Nabi was the man behind DC’s comeback as he got the ball to seam from length, particularly making life tough for Priyansh in the second half of the powerplay.
Priyansh’s opening partner, Prabhsimran Singh, did not have much rhythm in his 15-ball 18 before getting caught at fine leg off Mukesh.
Madhav Tiwari got his first wicket of the IPL by getting Priyansh caught at deep point in the ninth over.
Punjab Kings were off to a flyer, but by the halfway mark, they could only reach 107 for two in 10 overs.
Captain Shreyas Iyer (59 not out of 36) and Cooper Connolly (38 off 27) shared 83 off 52 balls for the third wicket, but they were not able to change gears as swiftly as they would have liked.
In the 19th over, Starc got rid of Marcus Stoinis and Sha shank Singh off successive balls before Suryansh Shedge hit a couple of breathtaking sixes off the high-profile speedster.
Ngidi bowled a brilliant final over to ensure the Punjab Kings don’t push beyond 210.
