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With the bat swinging freely in the Dharamshala breeze, Punjab Kings bowlers seemed more focused on throwing the bowl down the hill of the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala than testing the shaky middle order of Delhi Capitals. The side led by Shreyas Iyer gave away 17 runs in wides and 1 no ball as they faltered in their defence against the struggling DC on Monday, May 11.
PBKS’ bowling unit unravelled under pressure, turning a defendable total into yet another collapse in execution in a rapidly fading campaign. Their inability to control lines, build sustained pressure, or seize key moments exposed the recurring flaws that have plagued Punjab throughout the season.
The 18 extras alone reflected the chaos in their bowling plans. Add to that the dropped chances, inconsistent lengths and PBKS once again found themselves losing control of a game they had firmly gripped in the powerplay.
PBKS succumbed to their fourth successive defeat after a magical unbeaten start in the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League.
“I don’t want to beat around the bush. I’ll just say fielding and bowling,” Iyer said after the game against DC.
PBKS BOWLING FAILS TO CAPITALISE
Punjab’s bowling has been a persistent concern all season. They have picked up the fewest wickets among all teams in the competition, a worrying statistic that has consistently exposed their inability to break partnerships in crucial phases. Their problems have only worsened with poor fielding support, as PBKS also lead the charts for most dropped catches this season.
Against Delhi, their lack of penetration after the powerplay came to hurt them. PBKS had DC reeling at 33 for 3 early in the chase, with the seamers extracting a bit of movement under lights and forcing mistakes. But once the ball softened, Punjab’s attack lost direction completely.
The biggest turning point came when PBKS failed to capitalise after Tristan Stubbs’ run-out. With Delhi at 74 for 4, Axar Patel was handed a lifeline on 25 when Arshdeep Singh dropped a regulation chance. Punjab’s inability to convert half-chances into wickets has repeatedly cost them this season, and this miss proved equally damaging.
Before this match, Axar had managed only 44 runs off 59 balls across the season at a strike rate of 74.57. Yet PBKS allowed him to settle through loose lines and poor execution in the middle overs. Once he found rhythm against the pacers, the chase completely tilted in Delhi’s favour.
Axar went on to register his first fifty-plus score of the season and laid the platform for Delhi to complete the highest successful chase in the history of the HPCA Stadium.
Even after Axar departed, PBKS failed to regain control. Marco Jansen’s 16th over became the defining moment of the chase as David Miller dismantled Punjab’s death bowling with clinical ease. Miller collected 15 runs in the over before taking apart Ben Dwarshuis with consecutive sixes in the next over. The contrast between the two sides at the death was stark. Miller added 51 off just 28 balls to PBKS woes.
What should have been a tense finish quickly became a comfortable chase as PBKS failed to create even a brief squeeze in the final overs.
“I always say that hard length, short of hard length is the best ball, especially when a new batsman is coming in,” Iyer added. “It’s not easy to hit because if you keep repeating those balls there’s a chance of mis-hitting and you can get a wicket. We’ve been short of planning.”
COULD SPIN HAVE HELPED
There will be questions around Punjab’s bowling strategy as well. PBKS handed seven overs collectively to Marcus Stoinis and Yash Thakur, who leaked 99 runs for just three wickets, despite having Yuzvendra Chahal available.
“There was absolutely a thought. But the way the ball was seaming for the seamers, if we had executed our plans precisely, we may have gotten wickets,” Shreyas added on why he didn’t utilise Yuzi’s services.
To be fair, Delhi Capitals adopted a similar template. They too left out frontline spinner Kuldeep Yadav and relied almost entirely on pace. In fact, even DC captain Axar Patel did not bowl.
“The wicket was behaving differently today. After the first few overs, especially when Auqib Nabi bowled, I felt the ball was swinging and seaming as well,” Axar added after the game. “Even when I gave extra overs to Madhav and Auqib, something was happening with the ball. So, I thought if the pacers are getting help, then I should continue using them instead of bringing myself on.”
The game witnessed 39 overs of seam bowling, the second-most in IPL history after Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings in 2008, underlining how strongly both teams read the conditions.
The key difference, however, was execution. Delhi’s pacers adapted quickly, tightened their lengths and consistently forced Punjab into risks at the end. PBKS, on the other hand, despite seeing similar assistance with the ball early on, gradually lost discipline as the innings progressed.
For Punjab, this was not merely a defeat born out of missed opportunities. It was another reminder that their bowling unit continues to crack under pressure. In Dharamshala,
PBKS didn’t just lose a game, their bowling failures pushed them further down the hills of play-off contention.
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