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

Match 35 of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season will be played between an inconsistent Delhi Capitals (DC) side and an unbeaten Punjab Kings (PBKS) team at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on April 25, 2026. 

Here, we present our preview and predictions for the game.

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

The Capitals have gone through inconsistent form throughout the season. Having played six games so far, they have won three and lost three.

Their most recent fixture against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) saw them concede a massive total of 242/2, with Abhishek Sharma scoring 135* off 68 balls. All DC bowlers produced expensive spells, with Mukesh Sharma bearing the brunt of Abhishek Sharma’s exceptional hitting, finishing with 0/53. However, DC pulled back a little in the death overs to make sure SRH didn’t finish past 270. 

In response, DC lost Pathum Nissanka early before KL Rahul and Nitish Rana formed a decent partnership and looked good in the middle 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 back foot. With the required run rate soaring, Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs couldn’t keep up, and the DC batting unit crumbled trying to go big. In the end, DC could only manage 195/9 in their 20 overs, losing the match by 47 runs. 

In contrast to the Capitals’ topsy-turvy form, the Punjab Kings have just been relentless in their pursuit of glory this season. Led by the inspirational Shreyas Iyer, PBKS are the only unbeaten team left in the league this season and are sitting top of the table comfortably.

Last season’s runners-up have looked imperious, be it while setting a target or chasing one. They have been near-perfect in all departments, which they again proved against the Lucknow Super Giants in their latest fixture.

Batting first, the Kings lost Prabhsimran Singh on the first ball, but youngsters Priyansh Arya (93 off 37) and Cooper Connolly (87 off 46) gave the team a great start, before Marcus Stoinis (29 off 16) and Shashank Singh (17 off 6) 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 PBKS 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), while Aidan Markram, brought on much later surprisingly, scored 42 off 22, but LSG didn’t have a batter stay long enough to make chasing down the target plausible. In the end, PBKS could only reach 200/5 and lost the game by 54 runs.

PBKS have been in top form in all departments, and we might be nitpicking if we say that their middle order hasn’t been tested much, given their top order has been superb so far.

On the other hand, even though their bowlers got struck for a lot of runs against SRH, DC’s bowling attack has otherwise been quite good; it’s their batting that has disappointed them more often. Surely, DC need to make some changes to their batting line-up if they want to beat this super PBKS side, as well as bowl exceptionally well to have a proper go.

However, looking at current form, we do not see DC winning against PBKS here unless they sort their batting out, bowl well, and then get lucky. With the Delhi pitch being a batter-friendly one with shorter boundaries, it will favour the hard-hitting batters, and fortune will favour the more in-form batting side, which the Kings undoubtedly are in this match-up.

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

Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
Winners Prediction: Punjab Kings