Stoinis fires, Aussie quicks punished in Smith's debut

Australian Steve Smith made just nine from 12 balls as he finally made his debut for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL before countryman Marcus Stoinis showed impressive poise to seal victory over the Punjab Kings.

Having been left out of Delhi's first two games of the season, Smith was called up by coach Ricky Ponting but struggled to get going with the bat before Punjab's two Australians – Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith – combined to dismiss him, caught at third man in the 11th over of Delhi's run chase.

Indian star Shikhar Dhawan slammed 92 from 49 balls as he and Prithvi Shaw (32 from 17) gave Delhi a rollicking start to their innings, but the left-hander's dismissal left the Capitals needing 36 from the final four overs to win.

Enter Stoinis, who helped slam 20 runs from one Mohammad Shami over before sealing the win with another boundary off Meredith's bowling to finish unbeaten on 27 from 13 balls as Delhi won with 10 balls to spare.

It was an impressive knock from Stoinis, who opens in the KFC BBL but is likely to take one of Australia's middle-order spots at this year's T20 World Cup in India.

Richardson (2-41 from four overs) and Meredith (1-35 from 2.2) both struggled for control in the evening dew and the pair both have economy rates of more than 10 after three games this season.

Four of the five matches in Mumbai so far have been won by the time chasing and Punjab skipper KL Rahul says the late evening dew means the team bowling second is significantly disadvantaged, adding a ball change should be permitted during the innings.

"I think that (the ball change) will really be fair to the team bowling second, and I am not just saying that because I am on the losing side," Rahul told Star Sports.

"I think that's only fair that the team bowling second doesn't have such a huge disadvantage. Our bowlers try and practice their skills with the wet ball, but when you go out in the middle with the pressure it's always difficult.

"I did ask the umpires to change the ball a couple of times, but again, it's not in the rulebook, so that's how the game goes, we've got to take it."

The Aussie pace duo conceded eight fours and three sixes between them on Sunday night and have taken a combined five wickets in their three games so far.

Earlier, Rahul (61 from 51) and Mayank Agarwal (69 from 36) hammered a 122-run opening stand as the Kings piled on 4-195.

But Dhawan made short work of the imposing target, falling just short of a century for the second time in the tournament and taking over from Glenn Maxwell as the tournament's leading run-scorer.