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New Delhi: David Miller and Ashutosh Sharma turned out to be the heroes for Delhi Capitals (DC) as they defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by three wickets on Monday to remain alive in the race for the playoffs in IPL 2026. Despite a top-order failure, DC chased down the target of 211 runs with an over to spare to hand Punjab Kings their fourth defeat on the trot this season.

Axar Patel produced a captain’s knock of 56 runs off 30 balls, while Miller blasted 51 off just 28 deliveries. Ashutosh played a fiery cameo of 10-ball 24 to keep the visitors in the hunt till the end, helping them wrap up the run chase comfortably. Ashutosh combined with debutant Madhav Tiwari (18 off 8) to pull DC back into the contest after Miller’s dismissal and helped the team get over the line.

In pursuit of a tricky target of 211 runs, DC got off to a shambolic start as they lost openers Abhishek Porel (5) and KL Rahul (9) cheaply in the first two overs. Young Sahil Parakh (12) and Tristan Stubbs (12) also failed to get going and were sent packing in quick succession, leaving the visitors reeling on 74/4 at one stage.

Axar slammed a brilliant half-century and combined with Miller to add 64 runs for the fifth wicket and bring DC back into the contest. After the skipper’s departure, Miller took the onus on him and upped the ante in the death overs in a bid to finish the run chase early. However, Ben Dwarshuis managed to get ris of him in the 17th over to revive Punjab’s hopes.

Ashutosh and Madhav then combined to keep the momentum in DC’s favour with a quickfire 25-run stand off just 14 balls for the 7th wicket. Ashutosh was removed by pacer Yash Thakur in the 19th over, but a no-ball from the youngster saw Auqib Nabi capitalise on the free hit and smash a six to score the winning runs for DC off the next delivery.