IPL 2026: Axar Patel breathes life into Delhi Capitals' sinking campaign

Delhi Capitals’ (DC) campaign in the Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026) lived another day, following a three-wicket win against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 55 at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala.

It was a much-needed win for the Axar Patel-led side, who came into the tournament boasting several top names of the cricket world but failed to get on a winning run and are reeling at the bottom rungs of the IPL 2026 points table.

The architect of Delhi’s win was none other than their skipper Axar Patel, who rose to the occasion when his team needed him the most. Coming into the game, Axar had scored just 44 runs from eight innings with the bat, averaging 6.28.

However, as he walked out to bat in the second innings with DC reeling at 33/3 inside the powerplay after 4.3 overs chasing 211, Patel brought with him the weight of expectations of his team.

Captain announces arrival in style

With his back against the wall, the DC skipper announced his arrival in style by dancing down the track on just his second ball and launching Marco Jansen over the fence to get off the mark. 

He later took on Ben Dwarshius in the very next over, smashing him for successive boundaries to race to 16 off just seven balls. Patel continued his onslaught against Jansen and even had luck in his favour, getting dropped by Suryansh Shedge on the deep square leg boundary.

Patel-Miller partnership swings momentum

The southpaw stitched crucial stands, first with Tristan Stubbs of 41 runs off 23 balls and later added 64 runs off 34 balls with David Miller (51 off 28) to inject momentum back into DC’s run chase. He brought up his half-century off just 28 deliveries with successive boundaries against Marcus Stoinis.

However, the southpaw was dismissed two balls later, holing out to long-on, while searching for his fourth successive boundary against Stoinis. Patel returned to the pavilion after a well-made 56 (30), a knock studded with eight fours and two sixes.

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DC remain alive in playoffs race

DC eventually chased down the target after some valuable lower-order contributions from Ashutosh Sharma (24 off 10), Madhav Tiwari (18* off 8) and Auqib Nabi Dar (10* off 2).

On a night when DC desperately needed their captain to fire, Patel once again proved why he’s touted as a big-match player. The left-arm spinner is already the leading wicket-taker for his team with ten scalps to his name, and against Punjab Kings, he emerged as the knight in the shining armour to keep DC's ship sailing in turbulent waters.