Punjab Kings Vs Delhi Capitals Match Scorecard: Both IPL 2026 Battles Broken Down

KL Rahul hit 152 off 67 balls. Sixteen fours. Nine sixes. A strike rate of 226. And he still lost the match.

That single fact tells you everything about how mad the Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals rivalry got in IPL 2026. Two matches, two records, two completely different heroes. If you’re searching for the scorecard, you’re probably expecting a table of numbers. You’re getting that.

But you’re also getting the part every other site skips: why it happened.

Why These Two PBKS vs DC Games Matter More Than a Normal Scorecard

Most head-to-head scorecards are forgettable. These two aren’t. Match 35 produced the highest successful run chase in T20 history. Match 55 produced the highest successful chase ever recorded at the Dharamsala venue. Two record books rewritten by the same two teams in under three weeks. That’s not a coincidence it’s a pattern worth understanding if you actually want to know these teams, not just their scorelines.

Match 35 Scorecard: Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings, Arun Jaitley Stadium

Played on 25 April 2026. Delhi Capitals won the toss and batted first. Final result: Punjab Kings won by 6 wickets with 7 balls remaining.

Delhi Capitals innings: 264/2 (20 overs)

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Pathum Nissanka	c Prabhsimran b Arshdeep	11	7	2	0	157.1
KL Rahul (wk)	not out	152	67	16	9	226.9
Nitish Rana	c Iyer b Bartlett	91	44	11	4	206.8
David Miller	not out	3	3	0	0	100.0

Extras: 7. Fall of wickets: 28-1 (Nissanka, 2.4 ov), 248-2 (Rana, 18.3 ov). [web:4]

Punjab Kings bowling: Arshdeep Singh 4-0-49-1, Xavier Bartlett 4-0-69-1, Marco Jansen 4-0-45-0, Vyshak Vijaykumar 3-0-48-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-42-0, Marcus Stoinis 1-0-11-0.

Punjab Kings innings: 265/4 (18.5 overs), won by 6 wickets

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Priyansh Arya	c Rizvi b Patel	43	17	2	5	252.9
Prabhsimran Singh (wk)	lbw b Kuldeep	76	26	9	5	292.3
Cooper Connolly	b Kuldeep	17	10	1	1	170.0
Shreyas Iyer (c)	not out	71	36	3	7	197.2
Nehal Wadhera	c sub (Nair) b Nigam	25	15	3	1	166.7
Shashank Singh	not out	19	10	2	1	190.0

Read Also:- Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Match Scorecard

Extras: 14. Fall of wickets: 126-1 (Arya, 6.5 ov), 132-2 (Prabhsimran, 7.3 ov), 145-3 (Connolly, 9.2 ov), 201-4 (Wadhera, 14.3 ov).

Delhi Capitals bowling: Auqib Nabi 2-0-41-0, Mukesh Kumar 3-0-55-0, Axar Patel 4-0-44-1, T Natarajan 3.5-0-54-0, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-46-2, Vipraj Nigam 2-0-24-1. Player of the Match: KL Rahul.

The Turning Point: 116 Runs in One Powerplay

Here’s what most recaps get wrong. They say Punjab Kings “chased down 265 comfortably.” They didn’t chase comfortably they demolished the first six overs. Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya put on 126 runs for the first wicket in just 42 balls, with 116 of that total coming inside the powerplay alone. Nine fours and ten sixes before over six even finished.

What most people miss: a 265 target sounds unchaseable in any format. But here’s the real problem for Delhi Capitals their new-ball bowlers had no plan for a pitch offering zero turn and true bounce. Once Arya and Prabhsimran decided to attack rather than settle, the required rate dropped from over 13 to under 8 in a single overs’ work. The game was functionally over by the seventh over, seven full overs before the final ball was bowled.

Player Performance Breakdown

• KL Rahul (152* off 67): This is now the highest individual T20 score recorded on the losing side, one run ahead of Chris Gayle’s previous mark. Rahul himself called it a mindset shift he said modern T20 batting demands intent from ball one, unlike the “wait and assess” approach he grew up with. What people think vs reality: fans assume a 150 on the losing side is a “wasted” innings.
• Reality it’s the reason DC even had a target worth defending; without it, this isn’t a 265-chase story at all.
• Prabhsimran Singh (76 off 26): Set the tone with a strike rate above 292. His dismissal lbw to Kuldeep Yadav came right when the platform was already unassailable, which shows disciplined risk-taking rather than recklessness.
• Shreyas Iyer (71* off 36): Finished the chase as captain, hitting seven sixes. His calm, “we’ve chased 220-225 before” mindset in the presentation summed up why Punjab Kings treated a record target like a normal Tuesday.
• Nitish Rana (91 off 44): The most underrated innings of the match. Without Rana’s second-wicket stand with Rahul, DC never reaches 264 in the first place yet almost no recap mentions his name in the same breath as Rahul’s.

Match 55 Scorecard: Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals, Dharamsala

Played on 11 May 2026 at HPCA Stadium. Final result: Delhi Capitals won by 3 wickets with 6 balls remaining. This handed Punjab Kings their fourth straight defeat.

Punjab Kings innings: 210/5 (20 overs)

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Priyansh Arya	c S Parakh b M Tiwari	56	33	2	6	169.7
Prabhsimran Singh (wk)	c AN Dar b M Kumar	18	15	3	0	120.0
Shreyas Iyer (c)	not out	59	36	5	3	163.9
Cooper Connolly	c D Miller b M Starc	38	27	3	2	140.7
Marcus Stoinis	c M Tiwari b M Starc	1	2	0	0	50.0
Shashank Singh	c A Patel b M Starc	0	1	0	0	0.0
Suryansh Shedge	not out	21	8	2	2	262.5

Delhi Capitals bowling: Mitchell Starc 4-0-57-2, Madhav Tiwari 4-0-40-2, plus Mukesh Kumar and others sharing the remaining overs.

Delhi Capitals innings: 216/7 (19 overs), won by 3 wickets

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
KL Rahul (wk)	c Jansen b Arshdeep	9	8	2	0	112.5
Abishek Porel	b Yash Thakur	5	6	1	0	83.3
Sahil Parakh	c Chahal b Arshdeep	13	6	1	1	216.7
Tristan Stubbs	run out (Connolly/Dwarshuis)	12	17	1	0	70.6
Axar Patel (c)	c Dwarshuis b Stoinis	56	30	8	2	186.7
David Miller	c Prabhsimran b Dwarshuis	51	28	3	4	182.1
Ashutosh Sharma	c Dubey (sub) b Yash Thakur	24	10	2	2	240.0
Madhav Tiwari	not out	18	8	2	1	225.0
Auqib Nabi Dar	not out	10	2	1	1	500.0

Extras: 18. Fall of wickets: 10-1 (Porel, 1.5), 14-2 (Rahul, 2.3), 33-3 (Parakh, 4.3), 74-4 (Stubbs, 8.2), 138-5 (Patel, 14.0), 170-6 (Miller, 16.3), 205-7 (Ashutosh, 18.5).

Punjab Kings bowling: Arshdeep Singh 4-0-21-2, Yash Thakur 4-0-55-2, Marco Jansen 4-0-45-0, Ben Dwarshuis 4-0-51-1, Marcus Stoinis 3-0-44-1. Player of the Match: Madhav Tiwari.

The Turning Point: Axar Patel and David Miller’s Rescue Act

Delhi Capitals were 74/4 chasing 211. That’s not a comeback position that’s a collapse in progress. But here’s where things go wrong for most chasing sides: panic. Axar Patel didn’t panic. He built a 64-run stand with David Miller that reset the required rate from a dangerous 9-plus down to a manageable range, and both batters brought up fifties in the process.

Common mistake teams make: trying to accelerate immediately after a top-order collapse. Axar did the opposite he absorbed pressure for close to 30 balls before opening up, and that patience is exactly what turned a probable defeat into DC’s most important win of their season.

Player Performance Breakdown

• Madhav Tiwari (2/40 with the ball, 18* with the bat, Player of the Match on debut): This isn’t a trivia stat it’s a signal. A player contributing meaningfully with both bat and ball in his first-ever appearance, under pressure, at a venue known for helping fast bowlers, tells you Delhi Capitals’ bench strength is deeper than their league position suggests.
• Axar Patel (56 off 30): His first fifty of the season, and it came as captain when his side needed it most. Coming off a string of quiet performances, this was less about form and more about timing.
• David Miller (51 off 28): Miller himself admitted he felt like “a garbage truck” his words collecting whatever came his way at the death rather than scripting a highlight reel. That honesty matters more than the number itself; it shows composure over showmanship.
• Priyansh Arya (56 off 33) and Shreyas Iyer (59* off 36): Both got starts and finished with strike rates near 170, yet Punjab Kings still fell 6 runs short of a match-winning total.
• Counterintuitive idea: scoring 210 in 20 overs at Dharamsala should be winning territory most seasons the difference here wasn’t PBKS batting badly, it was DC’s bowling holding its nerve in the last five overs.

What Actually Separates a Win From a Loss in This Rivalry

Line up both matches side by side and a pattern appears that no single scorecard shows on its own.

Factor	Match 35 (PBKS won)	Match 55 (DC won)
Powerplay impact	PBKS scored 116 in the powerplay chasing 265	PBKS lost only 1 wicket in the powerplay chasing target, but DC’s middle order collapsed to 74/4
Bowling discipline	DC’s death bowlers leaked 265 in 20 overs	PBKS’s death overs (Arshdeep, Yash Thakur) took 4 wickets between them but still conceded the win
Match-defining partnership	Arya-Prabhsimran, 126 off 42 balls	Axar-Miller, 64 off ~46 balls
Bold decision that paid off	Iyer’s calm “we’ve done this before” mindset	Axar’s patience instead of panic at 74/4

Read Also:- Punjab Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals Match Scorecard

Bold opinion worth stating plainly: Punjab Kings’ bowling attack is the actual reason for their four-match losing streak after Match 35, not their batting. Their batters posted 210 in Match 55 a competitive total at most venues and still lost because their death bowling gave up 22 runs in a single over during the chase. A team that can chase 265 in 18.5 overs but can’t defend 210 has a bowling problem, not a batting one.

Key Highlights and Records From Both Matches

• Highest successful run chase in T20 history: 265 by Punjab Kings, Match 35.
• Highest individual T20 score by a batter on the losing side: KL Rahul’s 152*, beating Chris Gayle’s previous record by one run.
• Highest successful chase ever at the Dharamsala venue: 211, by Delhi Capitals in Match 55, beating a 193-run chase from 2010.
• Lungi Ngidi was taken for observation after a head injury attempting a catch during Match 35, later confirmed stable.
• Madhav Tiwari became Player of the Match on IPL debut in Match 55 a rare feat combining bat and ball contributions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)