PBKS have now conceded seven 200-plus totals in 10 outings (a joint IPL record for a single edition), to go with 195/6 against MI earlier in the tournament. The two exceptions have come against GT, and in the most recent fixtures of the two, Shreyas Iyer's batters were themselves limited to 163/9 batting first, a rare under-par batting show. They lead in the two key metrics on batting among the 10 teams: average runs per wicket of 38.4 (next best: 34.08, tournament average: 30.8) and run-rate of 11 (next best: 10.78, tournament average: 9.82). The bowling numbers stand on the other extreme.
Only 16.8% of their overs have been bowled by spinners, almost half of the overall tournament percentage of 32%. Therefore, the seam bowling stats would help in making a fair assessment, considering there was not a single ball of spin across 39 overs of action in Dharamsala on Monday, where they also play their next two games.
200-plus chases have become the norm in the IPL of late, especially in 2026, which has witnessed a record 14 of those, most of them without breaking a sweat, conveying that bowlers have indeed endured a tough time. But PBKS and RR (the other team to have conceded seven 200-plus totals), are the ones to have had a downward slide after a solid start in the first half.
PBKS' defeat to DC defied the odds on multiple parameters. The short boundary dimensions and a high altitude play a fair part in run-scoring at Dharamsala, wherein the average first innings score in previous five IPL games (since 2023) had been 209. The side batting first had won four of them. PBKS posted 210/5, and DC suffered a familiar early collapse, reduced to 33/3 in the fifth over. The hosts failed to capitalize against a team that had the second-worst average runs per wicket (28.15) and the third-worst run-rate (9.21) heading into the contest, not to mention they had lost five of their previous six games and made five changes to their XII for this one. As it turned out, it was just the third instance of a team chasing a 200-plus total after losing their first three wickets for under 50 in IPL history.
Arshdeep had a rare good outing, having gone at 10.42 across his previous 10 matches. Marco Jansen and Vijaykumar Vyshak have been expensive of late; the former has gone wicketless in five out of 10 matches. Their overseas seamers (bar Marcus Stoinis) have collectively bagged 13 wickets from 81 overs at 67.61 (ER: 10.85). It may also be noted that their comeback with the ball against SRH in Mullanpur, was catalysed by Shashank Singh who removed both openers after they had added 120 in eight overs.