Delhi Capitals survived a blazing 94 by Liam Livingstone for a consolation 15-run win on Wednesday to push Punjab Kings to the brink of IPL elimination on Wednesday.

South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw smashed an unbeaten 82 to guide Punjab to 213-2, a total that was threatened by Livingstone’s 48-ball blitz in the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala.

Livingstone and Atharva Taide put on a 78-run stand. After Taide retired out on 55, the rest of the batting fell flat.

Delhi, who were already out of the play-off-race, kept the opposition to 198-8 despite Livingstone’s nine sixes and sloppy fielding, including two dropped catches.

“It was a bad performance in the field but we will take the win,” Delhi skipper David Warner said.

“It was frustrating,” Punjab captain Shikhar Dhawan said. “We didn’t bowl really well in the first six wickets, we should have taken some wickets the way it was swinging.”

Warner (46) and Prithvi Shaw (54) put on 94 runs for the opening wicket to lay the foundation for Delhi’s mammoth total.

The left-handed Warner set the pace with his attacking 31-ball knock as he hit former Delhi pace bowler Kagiso Rabada for two sixes.

Punjab left-arm quick and big buy Sam Curran denied Warner his fifty, but the left-handed Rossouw came in attacking with sixes and fours.

Shaw raised his fifty before falling to Curran. Rossouw finished off the innings with a destructive partnership with England’s Phil Salt.

Rossouw, who struck his first IPL half-century and was named player of the match, and Salt, who hit a 14-ball 26, took apart the opposition attack as they scored 41 runs in the final two overs.

Punjab stay eighth in the 10-team table and need to win their final group match and depend on other results and net-rate to make the play-offs.

IPL heavyweights Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are two of the seven team in contention for three remaining play-off spots in the T20 tournament.

Defending champions Gujarat Titans became the first team to qualify for the play-offs early this week and assured themselves a top-two finish in the group stage.

TEAM P W L NR NRR PTS RECENT FORM
GT 13 9 4 0 0.835 18 WLWWL
CSK 13 7 5 1 0.381 15 LWWNL
LSG 13 7 5 1 0.304 15 WWLNL
MI 13 7 6 0 -0.128 14 LWWLW
RCB 12 6 6 0 0.166 12 WLLWL
RR 13 6 7 0 0.140 12 LWLLL
KKR 13 6 7 0 -0.256 12 WLWWL
PBKS 13 6 7 0 -0.308 12 LWLLW
DC 13 5 8 0 -0.572 10 WLLWW
SRH 12 4 8 0 -0.575 8 LLWLW