IPL 2026 | Match 35: DC vs PBKS | Preview and Predictions

Match 35 of the 2026 IPL season will be played between an inconsistent Delhi Capitals and an unbeaten Punjab Kings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on 25th April 2026. 

Here’s our preview and prediction for the game. 

Indian Premier League 2026 | Match 35: Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings| 15:30 IST, 25th April 2026 

The Delhi Capitals have gone through inconsistent form this season. Having played six games so far, they have won three and lost three now. Their most recent fixture came against Sunrisers Hyderabad where they conceded a massive total of 242/2 with Abhishek Sharma scoring 135 not out off 68 balls. All DC bowlers went for expensive spells with Mukesh Sharma bearing the brunt of Abhishek Sharma’s exceptional hitting as he finished with 0/53. However, the DC bowlers pulled back a little in the death overs as at one time it looked like SRH were going to score past 270. 

In response, DC lost Pathum Nissanka early but KL Rahul and Nitish Rana formed a decent partnership and were looking good until Rahul got out. SRH’s Sri Lankan fast bowler Eshan Malinga then removed Rana and David Miller in back-to-back deliveries to put DC on the backfoot. As the required run-rate kept soaring, the DC batters Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs couldn’t quite keep up and in their attempt to hit more boundaries, the DC batting crumbled. In the end, DC could only manage 195/9 in their 20 overs, losing the match by 47 runs. 

In contrast to Delhi Capital’s topsy-turvy form, Punjab Kings have just been relentless in their pursuit for glory this season. Led by the inspirational Shreyas Iyer, PBKS are the only unbeaten team in the league, sitting top of the table comfortably. Last season’s runners-up have looked imperious whether they are setting a target or chasing one. They have been near-perfect in all departments as they proved against the Lucknow Super Giants in their latest fixture. 

Batting first, the Punjab Kings lost Prabhsimran Singh on the first ball but youngsters Priyansh Arya (93 off 37 balls) and Cooper Connolly (87 off 46 balls) gave PBKS a great start and then Marcus Stoinis (29 off 16 balls) and Shashank Singh (17 off 6 balls) played useful cameos to take PBKS to a mammoth 254/7. Barring Prince Yadav who bowled unbelievably well on a flat track, every other LSG bowler got clobbered to all parts of the ground by the Punjab batters. 

Chasing the massive target, LSG made a decent start with Mitchell Marsh and Ayush Badoni adding 60 runs in the powerplay before Badoni got out trying to up the tempo. Rishabh Pant also came in and played aggressively (43 off 23 balls). Aidan Markram was surprisingly brought on much later and he did score 42 off 22 balls but LSG didn’t have a batter stay longer and failed to keep up with the rising required run-rate. In the end, they could only reach 200/5 in their 20 overs quota, losing the game by 54 runs. 

As for the current match-up, we believe that Punjab Kings has been in top form in all departments of cricket and we might be nitpicking if we say that their middle order hasn’t been tested much as their top order has been superb so far. Even though the DC bowlers got struck for a lot of runs against SRH, the DC bowling attack has been quite good in the rest of the games, it’s their batting that has disappointed them more often. Surely, DC needs to make some changes in their batting lineup if they want to beat this super PBKS team and bowl exceptionally well to have a proper go. 

However, looking at current form, we do not see DC winning against PBKS unless they sort their batting out. The Delhi pitch being a batter friendly pitch with shorter boundaries will favour the hard-hitters in the PBKS camp and it will come down to the more in-form batting side and that surely has been the Punjab Kings. 

Fantasy XI: KL Rahul (wk), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connelly, Shreyas Iyer (c), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lungi Ngidi, Arshdeep Singh. 

Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi 

Winner’s Prediction: Punjab Kings