IPL 2026 DC vs. PBKS Live Score: Prabharya and Shreyas accomplish a record chase for PBKS

Apr 25, 2026, 11:51 AM

DC has a lot of catching up to accomplish

Punjab Kings (PBKS) had appeared in control throughout all aspects of their five-match winning streak, just two games short of their best run from 2013–14. They have an air of invincibility in chases, largely because of Shreyas Iyer, and their powerplay hitting, spearheaded by Priyansh Arya, has been especially deadly.

Shreyas Iyer got a couple of lives in his first 25 balls

On the other hand, the Delhi Capitals (DC) have had trouble keeping up with major targets. They have failed in eight of their ten efforts to reach 200 or more since 2024, and they have yet to reach 200 in three attempts this season. Their utilisation of resources, particularly the Impact Player, has been unclear, which exacerbates that.

They have alternated between Ashutosh Sharma (against CSK), Karun Nair (against RCB), and Ashutosh again (against SRH). After a strong start, Pathum Nissanka has become quiet, and Nitish Rana, who was previously left out, is now unexpectedly under pressure once more.

Their bowling is also tinged with ambiguity. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel bowled just two overs apiece against SRH, who amassed 242, while Rana reached his quota of 55 runs. Auqib Nabi was back on the bench after two games. All of this suggests that one side is still looking for the best mix.

At the halfway point, that is not the best position to be in. DC will have to resolve these problems fast because a matchup with the table-toppers is imminent.

Apr 25, 2026, 12:29 PM

Axar beneath the scanner

With captain Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, the Delhi Capitals have one of the best spin-bowling duos in the IPL. However, in the defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad, they bowled just four overs together, while Nitish Rana, a part-time bowler, bowled four.

Aaron Finch was not pleased with that, saying, "To me that makes no sense."

Apr 25, 2026, 12:50 PM

DC's strengthening

Mitchell Starc is expected to arrive shortly, according to two updates from the Delhi Capitals camp. Not immediately, but if nothing happens between now and May 1, he should be back on the field. Additionally, Rehan Ahmed, a legspin-bowling all-rounder for a top-order batsman and sporadic wicketkeeper, has been called in to replace Ben Duckett. However, Rehan could have to wait for his turn.

Apr 25, 2026, 1:15 PM

Pathum Nissanka and Vijaykumar Vyshak are in the spotlight

With scores of 44, 41, and 41 in three of his first four innings, Pathum Nissanka had a strong start to his IPL debut. However, in his final two games, he was defeated by RCB and SRH. For him, the upcoming games take on greater significance, particularly in light of Mitchell Starc's approaching arrival. A successful run currently would present a welcome selection conundrum for the team management. Given that they have other talented Indian bats like Prithvi Shaw or Karun Nair who can step in, Nissanka seems to be the most vulnerable if Starc replaces one of the foreign hitters. Given that there have only been two low scores, it would be a severe decision, but the IPL's team choosing process is frequently harsh.

Vijaykumar Vyshak has already played in more games halfway through IPL 2026 than he did during the entire previous season, when his appearances were mostly determined by matchups. However, his entire game has changed noticeably this year. He appears speedier, more fit, and less one-dimensional. Vyshak has expanded his skill set by combining hard lengths with cutters and yorkers, particularly in the end, rather than depending only on the knuckleball. Although an economy rate of 10.05 may appear excessive, it reveals as much about his job as it does about the batting-friendly surfaces. His methods are clearly trusted within the PBKS setup.

Apr 25, 2026, 1:54 PM

How will the pitch be structured?

The Gujarat Titans defended one run off the final ball in the thrilling final game at the Kotla. In a game with 419 runs scored, David Miller's decision to deny a single was the buzz of the town. In order to ensure that there is enough sheen on the deck to generate another high-scorer, the curators have had two weeks since that game, thus this match will be played on a similar deck.

Apr 25, 2026, 2:14 PM

"Comfortable in my own skin" Jansen

Marco Jansen, who is in his second season with PBKS, has so far contributed differently to the team in IPL 2026 than he did the previous year. In his first six innings of the IPL 2025, he bowled the first or second over three times. Jansen has only done it once in the first five innings this time. He said all of that and more prior to today's match.

Apr 25, 2026, 2:19 PM

Fantastic Saturday

The IPL 2026 league phase is halfway through. DC has an opportunity to get out of the mid-table congestion for the time being, as they are tied with CSK and GT with six points. This is an opportunity for PBKS to maintain their lead over RR and RCB and solidify their position at the top. Later tomorrow evening, RR will host SRH in Jaipur. There is a lot to do on this Super Saturday.

Our guy in Delhi, Daya Sagar, reports that the city's temperature is 41 degrees. The players' fitness will undoubtedly be put to the test today due to the intense heat.

Apr 25, 2026, 2:28 PM

See who has returned!

Mitch Starc, Australia's fastest player, has joined the DC team in Delhi and hopes to be available for the Delhi Capitals (DC) before their May 1 matchup with Rajasthan Royals (RR). Starc, 36, was taking care of shoulder and elbow problems. In addition, England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed has joined the DC team to take Ben Duckett's spot. Rehan can be chosen starting today.

Apr 25, 2026, 2:56 PM

Report on conditions

From Delhi, here's Daya Sagar: Good afternoon. In order to receive two points, PBKS and DC will need to perspire in the intense heat of 41 degrees Celsius. Due to the extreme heat, only few people have arrived at the stadium thus far, but as the game approaches, the number is anticipated to grow.

For now, Delhi's Lungi Ngidi and Mukesh Kumar have marked their bowling run-ups from both ends, while Punjab's Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett, Marco Jansen, and Vijaykumar Vyshak have done the same. On the side pitch, Yuzvendra Chahal is honing his spin bowling technique. He will undoubtedly fit into PBKS' starting lineup, although it is unclear if PBKS will also start Harpreet Brar in today's dry-surface encounter.

It was said in yesterday's news conference that the choice would be made on match day once the pitch was examined. Maybe that's why coach Ricky Ponting and skipper Shreyas Iyer are currently standing close to the field, talking and deliberating. KL Rahul is addressing the Delhi squad during a huddle in the meantime.

Apr 25, 2026, 3:02 PM

DC chooses to bat against PBKS

Delhi Capitals choose to bat against Punjab Kings.

On a 41-degree day in Delhi, Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel won the toss and decided to bat against Punjab Kings in an afternoon match. Shreyas Iyer, the captain of PBKS, stated that the toss was "inconsequential" since he wanted to bowl first.

From their prior games, neither team had changed. Mitchell Starc, Australia's fastest player, has joined the DC team but is not yet prepared to play. He hopes to be eligible for DC prior to their May 1 matchup with the Rajasthan Royals (RR). In addition, England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed has joined the DC team to take Ben Duckett's spot. Seamer Auqib Nabi might be DC's Impact Player when they bowl, or if the Delhi pitch—which Axar described as dry—favors spin, they might lean towards legspinner Vipraj Nigam.

Nehal Wadhera is the most likely player for PBKS to fill in as the Impact Sub during a pursuit. Just two games short of their best run from 2013–14, PBKS is now on a five-match winning streak.

Delhi Capitals bat-first XI: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Sameer Rizvi, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Axar Patel (capt), 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Lungi Ngidi, 10 T Natarajan, 11 Mukesh Kumar

Impact Sub bench: Vipraj Nigam, Karun Nair, Dushmantha Chameera, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi

Punjab Kings bowl-first XI: 1 Prabhsimran Singh(w), 2 Priyansh Arya, 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Shreyas Iyer(capt), 5 Shashank Singh, 6 Marcus Stoinis,7 Marco Jansen, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Vijaykumar Vyshak, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Sub bench: Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod

Apr 25, 2026, 3:36 PM

Rahul pursues Bartlett

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Xavier Bartlett starts off as an outswinger. Rahul beats the lone man in the deep on the off side by reaching out for it and cracking it away behind point. The next delivery is overcorrected by Bartlett, who pushes it too full on the stumps. Rahul grabs it and flips it over in the middle. Bartlett has had to use his defensive abilities after just two balls. He uses a slower cutter to keep Rahul honest. However, he fails to get the short ball at Nissanka short enough, and the ball disappears to the right of deep square leg for the third boundary of the over.

Apr 25, 2026, 3:41 PM

Shashank's numerous failures

Arshdeep celebrates after drawing a mis-hit from Rahul in his second cover, but he must stop himself because Shashank Singh dropped a fairly normal catch at deep square leg. Shashank shells another after missing at least three opportunities in PBKS's last match, this time to save Rahul on 12. Shashank allows the ball to go all the way to the boundary. Coach Ponting appears to close his eyes and lower his head. He is unable to witness this terrifying spectacle on the field.

But two balls later, Arshdeep smacks Nissanka's top edge from left-arm over. Prabhsimran made no mistakes behind the stumps. After seven balls, Nissanka was dismissed for eleven. Arshdeep can now rejoice.

Shashank is still being followed by the ball. In the fifth over, he dives to his right from sweeper cover, but it is ineffective because the ball glides into the boundary.

Shashank departs the field prior to the beginning of the powerplay's last over."It's fair to say [we haven't performed well in the field]," Ponting grinned.

Apr 25, 2026, 3:59 PM

In a powerplay, Rahul and Rana attack

DC's powerplay score of 68 was their highest in the 2026 Indian Premier League. Earlier this month, they defeated CSK in Chennai with a powerplay score of 66, which was their highest of the season.

Rahul has maximised the powerplay by repeatedly hitting the ball over the top. He has easily reached 35 off of 16 balls. At No. 3, Rana has also started to attack, reaching 22 off 13 balls.

Apr 25, 2026, 4:24 PM

Rahul is fifty!

Rahul's 26-ball half-century has given PBKS a strong foundation. He scored 35 of DC's 68 runs during the powerplay, demonstrating his quickness. Rahul had a strike rate of more than 200 when he scored those powerplay runs.

After the powerplay, he continued to be aggressive, step-hitting Chahal for six and Vyshak for four. Rahul was dropped twice along the route. Can he take advantage of those opportunities and help DC reach a significant total?

Rahul's fastest fifty since his 25-ball performance against CSK in 2021, according to our stats expert Sampath Bandarupalli.

Apr 25, 2026, 4:34 PM

Fifty Rana

6 4 4 4 4 6

With just 29 balls, Nitish Rana reaches his own half-century. It's also his second consecutive fifty. Rana reaches the milestone with consecutive scooped fours, the first of which Chahal swatted away to the boundary at short fine leg.

In the 12th over, Rana had undoubtedly applied pressure, taking Bartlett for a sequence of 6,4,4,4,4,6. In 12 overs, DC is 142 for 1. In his three overs, Bartlett has given up 52 runs.

Apr 25, 2026, 4:50 PM

Rahul scores his first IPL sub-50 ball tonne

Rahul has reached a century off 47 balls after taking advantage of two opportunities. On 12, Shashank dropped him, and on 51, Vyshak dropped him off his own bowling. This is Rahul's first IPL century under 50, according to Sampath Bandarupalli.

In the eleventh over, he picked Chahal away for back-to-back fours after stepping out of the crease to hit him for six over long-on. With a run of 4,6,4,4 against Arshdeep in the fourteenth over, Rahul stormed into the nineties. In the fifteenth over, he reached the milestone with a four off Jansen. Rahul makes a 'X' with his arms and rejoices. He is joined in celebration by the Arun Jaitley Stadium. In 15 overs, DC is 189 for 1.

Apr 25, 2026, 4:58 PM

Rahul lines up Vyshak

0 6 1w 6 6 4 1

Vyshak Vijaykumar is bowling the sixteenth over. In a 24-run over, Rahul rips into his Karnataka teammate, hitting him for three sixes and a four. Both over and around the wicket, Vyshak continued to miss his yorkers. Rahul shot up to 126 after 54 balls. Is he able to reduce Gayle's 175*?

Apr 25, 2026, 5:16 PM

Rana and Rahul in the record stand

192 DC's best partnership for any wicket in the IPL.

192 and counting. Rahul hits a six over long-on off Jansen to surpass 200. Can he keep going and break Gayle's record?

In the penultimate over of the innings, PBKS finally breaks the stand at 220. Shreyas makes a deft grab after Rana launches a full-toss to mid-off. Rana failed to reach a century, going for 91 off 44 balls. Rana receives back pats from Rahul and the new Miller.

Apr 25, 2026, 5:25 PM

Rahul 152*, Rana 91, DC 264

On his way to 152* off 67 balls, Rahul has destroyed the record books and the PBKS attack. After Brendon McCullum (175*) and Chris Gayle (158*), he became the first Indian and third overall to reach 150 or more in the IPL. Gayle's record was in danger at one point, but it is now secure. However, Rahul has made an incredible effort. DC is now at 264 for 2, which is both their biggest total and the seventh highest overall.

While keeping in the second innings, Rahul is gasping for air and hoping he doesn't cramp. On a 41-degree day in Delhi, it was a serious shift. "Rahul! Rahul! Rahul!" chants reverberate across the area.

Apr 25, 2026, 5:48 PM

Prabhsimran and Arya begin the pursuit

DC's Impact Sub Auqib Nabi's first ball is on off and of decent length. It's a decent ball. However, Arya makes it appear that way. He grabs it and hits a first-ball six by dumping Nabi over midwicket. The right-hander then grabs hold of it and hits a six over the leg side after Nabi pushes it too full against Prabhsiran. The chase's opening over yielded fifteen runs.

In the second over of the chase, Mukesh generates an opportunity by having Prabhsimran slice in the air. The ball pops out as Nabi throws himself to his right. It's a difficult opportunity, but it's a chance. On 13, Prabhsimran is given a life. In two overs, PBKS is 36 for 0.

Apr 25, 2026, 5:53 PM

Ngidi hits the ground with his head

Arya slices the left-arm spinner over mid-off after attempting to step-hit Axar. Ngidi miscalculates, bolts back, lands on his ass, and clumsily hits his head on the ground. He seemed to be in terrible agony. He's still unconscious. nasty blow. Faces in the DC camp were tense. On the field is the stretcher.

Although Ngidi is still unconscious, she is communicating with the medical staff. DC coach Badani motions for a neck brace as the ambulance arrives on the pitch. Miller, Ngidi's SA friend, seemed especially worried. Horrible incidents in Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Chameera, a member of the Impact Subs bench who might replace Ngidi, starts to warm up in Delhi. Ngidi remains on the stretcher.

Ngidi is currently being carried into the ambulance on a stretcher. They're taking him to the hospital.

Yes, Chameera enters the game at mid-off. It's time to start playing again. Vipraj Nigam has been confirmed as Ngidi's concussion substitute.

Apr 25, 2026, 6:15 PM

Prabh and Arya fire off

When play starts up again, Arya gives Axar another six. Prabhsimran increases the pressure on the rookie by hitting the seamer for three sixes in the next over, which is bowled by Nabi. In an over that costs DC 27, Arya swots him for another six over square leg, and PBKS flies to 83 for 0 in four overs.

Apr 25, 2026, 6:28 PM

Power that is sensational (play)

PBKS scored 116 runs in the first six overs, which is the second-highest powerplay total in IPL history. At this same location in 2024, SRH had previously scored 125 in the powerplay against DC.

Apr 25, 2026, 6:36 PM

DC is relieved as Arya and Prabh collapse

So far, Arya has hit five sixes. He ends up holing out to Rizvi at deep midwicket for 43 off 17 balls after attempting his sixth. Arya went for it despite DC having three players out in the deep on the leg side. In contemporary T20 cricket, that is the quality that teams search for. Axar and DC will have some relief as PBKS are 126 for 1 in the seventh over.

DC goes bam bang. Kuldeep stops Prabh's knock on 76 off 26 balls in the following over by trapping him lbw. PBKS is 53.53% favoured to win despite the twin blows. That speaks volumes about Prabharya's opening salvo.

Apr 25, 2026, 6:55 PM

Kuldeep strikes once again

With a wrong'un in his second over, Kuldeep overcomes Connolly's left-handed defences. 17 off 10 balls and gone. The odds of PBKS winning this game are reduced to 41.25%.

Apr 25, 2026, 7:12 PM

In the chase, Shreyas' key

Shreyas Iyer has gotten off to another fast start, ensuring that the asking rate has not fallen beyond their reach despite wickets dropping at the other end. Iyer has 28 off 19 balls. Wadhera, the Impact Sub for PBKS, starts up with a flicked six off Natarajan's short fine leg.

Apr 25, 2026, 7:24 PM

Nair drops Shreyas twice

In the fifteenth over, Nigam sends one up at Wadhera, catching him at long-on. Nigam could have also had Shreyas in the same over, but Nair misses a sitter at long off. Nair makes another regulation catch, this time at long-on, in Kuldeep's subsequent over. Has Nair lost the game twice?

Apr 25, 2026, 7:45 PM

PBKS reduces 265

With six wickets and seven balls remaining, PBKS chases down 265. Another noteworthy victory for PBKS. In actuality, it's the IPL's most successful pursuit. The complete report will soon be available on the website. I appreciate you listening in.