Impact player Abhishek Porel played a lovely cameo right at the end of the innings to help Delhi Capitals post a competitive 174/9 in 20 overs against Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. It was an innings in which all of DC’s batters got set, but none could make a big total. Porel’s cameo of 32 not out off 10 balls, including 25 runs off the last over, helped DC go from 149/8 to cross the 170-run mark.


Who is Abhishek Porel?


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Abhishek Porel, hailing from Bengal, emerges as a notable cricket talent. Born on October 17, 2002, at 21 years old, he excels as a wicketkeeper-batter. Porel showcases his skills representing Bengal in the prestigious Ranji Trophy, marking his presence as a promising young player. His journey extends to IPL 2023, where he finds a place in the Delhi Capitals, elevating his stature as a top prospect in the cricketing world. Notably, he shares familial ties with Ishan Porel, a former India U19 bowler. (WATCH: 4,6,4,4,6,1; Abhishek Porel Runs Havoc On Harshal Patel During PBKS vs DC Clash)


Coming back to the match, pushed into batting first on a solid black soil pitch, Mitchell Marsh picked back-to-back clipped fours off Sam Curran. From the other end, David Warner feasted on short balls from Arshdeep Singh by smashing a six and four off him.


Marsh welcomed Kagiso Rabada with a pulled six over deep square leg. In the next over, he smashed a straight bat loft off Arshdeep over long-off. But on the very next ball, Marsh fell after driving straight to Rahul Chahar at cover-point, who took a sharp catch.


Warner continued to be DC’s aggressor by slapping and scooping Rabada for four and six respectively. He also played a drive off Harshal Patel for another boundary. Shai Hope smacked Rahul Chahar over long-off for six and was helped by a misfield to get a four.


But Harshal struck by getting Warner’s edge off a slower bouncer and Jitesh Sharma dived forward to take the catch, with PBKS getting the decision. Hope slog-swept off Chahar for four and pulled Rabada over long-on for six, before mistiming a drive to cover off the pacer.


The moment for which everyone waited came after Warner’s fall when Rishabh Pant got big applause from a decent crowd while coming out to bat in his comeback competitive cricket game. The left-handed batter took his time, like not taking twos twice in his first six deliveries, before pulling off Chahar to Patel at mid-wicket, who dropped the catch to give him a boundary.


Pant wowed the crowd by piercing the gap between mid-off and cover on a half-volley from Patel. But the pacer bounced back with a slower ball angled into the body, which the batter tried to ramp over the keeper, but ended up lobbing the catch to a backward point, falling for a 13-ball 18.


From there, DC’s innings had a free-fall as Ricky Bhui went for a tickle down leg off Harpreet Brar, but replays showed a spike while going into Jitesh’s gloves and PBKS got the decision in their favour via review.


Tristan Stubbs holed out to long-on, who ran to his left and completed a good diving catch. Axar Patel hit a couple of boundaries, before being run out by a throw from a substitute fielder at deep square leg while going for a second run. Sumit Kumar shaped for a drive, but nicked behind to Jitesh off Arshdeep, before Porel’s onslaught took DC to a fighting total.


Brief scores: IPL 2024; Delhi Capitals 174/9 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 33, Abishek Porel 32 not out; Arshdeep Singh 2-28, Harshal Patel 2-46) against Punjab Kings.