'We didn’t execute the skills needed in last 5 overs', admits PBKS spin bowling coach Bahutule 

DHARAMSALA: Punjab Kings spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule admitted his side failed to execute properly in the final overs and paid the price for dropped catches as Delhi Capitals pulled off a record chase to stay alive in the IPL 2026 playoff race.

Capitals chased down 211 with three wickets in hand against PBKS at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Monday. Despite reducing DC to 14/2 and later 38/3, PBKS were unable to close out the match as captain Axar Patel smashed 56, David Miller struck 51, and debutant Madhav Tiwari played a decisive cameo of 18 off eight balls to guide the visitors to 216/7.

Reflecting on the defeat, Bahutule admitted that his side had the game under control before losing momentum in the death overs, “I’ve said this before, also, there are going to be lots of ups and downs. There are going to be times where you’ve almost won the game, and you lose, we almost had the game with us, but we didn’t execute the skills needed in the last five overs. So all we need to do is just keep this aside and move ahead and play the next three games to the best of our ability," Bahutule said at the post-match press conference.

PBKS' fielding lapses also proved costly during DC's recovery. Arshdeep Singh dropped Tristan Stubbs at long-on, while another chance offered by Axar Patel went down at deep square leg.