Punjab Kings has gone into freefall. In the IPL 2026 fixture at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Monday (May 11, 2026), it was Delhi Capitals’ turn to upstage Kings, coming up trumps by three wickets.

Chasing 211 in favourable conditions to condemn PBKS to its fourth successive defeat, DC was poor at the beginning of its pursuit and lost the top three within the fifth over. But Capitals had skipper Axar Patel and David Miller to thank as the left-handed batters haunted their former franchise with match-influencing half-centuries.

Poor fielding and mediocre execution with the ball once again let Kings down. The host was severely punished for handing a reprieve to Axar, who saw Suryansh Shedge spill a tough chance off Ben Dwarshuis when he was on 25.

The 32-year-old never let the run-rate pressure get to him, taking special liking to left-arm pacers Dwarshuis and Marco Jansen. He stitched a vital 64-run fifth-wicket alliance with Miller before the South African put the visitor on the cusp of victory.

When Marcus Stoinis halted Axar’s progress in the last ball of the 14th over, Capitals still had work to do. Miller, with assistance from Ashutosh Sharma and Madhav Tiwari, did enough to guide his side to victory with an over to spare. The contest was as good as over after Ashutosh and Madhav combined to smash Stoinis for 19 runs in the 18th over.

The groundwork for the win was laid by the DC pacers, who engineered a comeback that proved key in the end. Auqib Nabi’s miserly effort in the PowerPlay, late strikes from Mitchell Starc and Madhav’s two-fer were worth their weight in gold despite good knocks from PBKS opening batter Priyansh Arya and Shreyas Iyer.

The away team fought back once it found the right lengths and variations which were effective on the track. While Mukesh Kumar drew first blood by dismissing Prabhsimran Singh and breaking a 78-run alliance, Madhav sent back Priyansh, who found Sahil Parakh at sweeper-cover.

The persistent effort of the fast bowlers, who sent down all the overs, helped restrict PBKS to 210 for five even after the home side blazed to 51 without loss in three overs. Those small actions had a big impact.