Axar, Ashutosh, Starc keep Delhi Capitals' playoffs hopes alive
RR looked set for a 220 total at one point but Starc's three wickets in the 15th over derailed them
RR looked set for a 220 total at one point but Starc's three wickets in the 15th over derailed them
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Vishal Dikshit
It's midnight and we bid you goodbye as the Delhi Capitals players head back after a lap of the ground, as it was there last home ground. They're holding banners and distributing some jerseys for their fans. Lots of movement still happening on the points table. What a Sunday that was - RCB make the playoffs and are likely to finish in the top two. DC keep breathing with this victory which means seven teams will fight it out for the remaining three spots in the eight games to go. Tomorrow is CSK vs SRH, do join us for that too. It's adios from me, Vishal Dikshit, and my amigo Ekanth. Ciao!
Time for the presentation...
Axar Patel: It's obviously special to win at home, especially after losing. Fans come to support us so this means a lot. One thing has improved that we used to lose wickets in cluster easily, but today we got a good opening stand which helped the other batters. Today we wrestle able to finish the game because of that. In a lot of matches we made comebacks to bowl well after the powerplay. In the time out, our chat is we can make a come back any time. Today as well, we did that in the middle overs. Our "youngster" did that for us today (laughs). We kept chatting about what fields to set for new batters, how to make it tougher for them.
That youngster, Mitch Starc is the Player of the Match: We've had different wickets throughout in Delhi. We didn't bowl too badly in the powerplay but they batted well, but we brought things back later and KL batted fantastically, and to finish at home with a win is always nice. Adjusting as quickly as you can is key because boundaries aren't too big here. Bowl some variations, Lungi bowled really well, we adjusted very well after the powerplay. You can't rally dwell at things in T20, matches come quickly. As bowlers you've to put the ego aside. There's plenty of talent (in DC), a lot of local guys who've been around for a number of years. It's only a positive seeing those young guys, I'm sure it'll continue that way this season as well.
Riyan Parag: We were in a pretty good space after 14 overs. Once I got out we didn't capitalise and should have got around 210. Our bowling, we weren't upto the mark. Bowling Ferreira wasn't a gamble, I know on TV looks like a gamble. If you want to win a trophy, you have to contend in every game. We're a way better team than we showed in the last 4-5 games. Coming from a break, skillwise, energywise, executionwise we weren't there and if we play like this, we shouldn't be in the top four. We had the opportunity, we didn't take it. If we don't qualify, it's our fault, nobody else's.
KL Rahul: This one feels a bit more special (scoring 500 runs again in a season). I've been scoring 500 runs but I've been working to up my strike rate to keep up with the modern T20 demands. If we had a few more wins that would have been better, but we have an outside chance. Hopefully some other teams will help us out. It's been a journey (to up my strike rate) and I don't thonk I've still cracked it. Sport is about trial and error, being open to experimentation and doing uncomfortable things. This time there was a very clear message from the coach and captain that they wanted me to play at a particular strike rate and dominate the powerplay. The last few games have been a bit tricky, and they expected someone from the top three to bat deep so I tried to do that today. Porel batted beautifully today. The chances Porel has gotten, he has shown what he can do, hitting proper shots and use the powerplay. The feedback to him was he wanted to up that strike rate but he didn't get too many chances early in the season. He's been open to experimenting, he's been talking to me, the coaches and he got a chance like this today which will give him confidence that when you strike at 170-200 strike rate, you can get a bit more relaxed.
11.32pm So DC hold their nerve in this see-saw contest and they move from eighth to seventh to stay alive for the playoffs race. RR, meanwhile, slip from fifth to sixth when they had a chance of entering the top four. CSK, watching from the sidelines, go fifth. DC's finisher Ashutosh might have done it in the end but the match was turned by Mitchell Starc in the 15th over when RR were heading for a 220 kind of total from 161 for 2. But Starc's triple-wicket over pulled the rug from under RR's feet and restricted them to a below-part total. KL Rahul and Porel gave DC a century opening stand even before the halfway mark, which meant that despite the wobble in the middle, they had just enough to get over the line.
Three to win now
A penalty as well for RR, what a night for them if they go down. Four fielders allowed at the rope instead of five - deep third, fine leg, square leg and long on. Massive gap on the off side in the deep
"We've many a times not been able to figure out what the surface is like," Hemang Badani says about the pitches at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium
"Air speed is equally important [as reverse swing]," Sanjay Bangar says of Mitchell Starc's three-wicket over against Rajasthan Royals
It was a day with two matches at IPL 2026, and that meant some of the star performers of the season made big moves up the Orange and Purple Cap tables
First, they subbed in Dasun Shanaka after a batting collapse despite Jofra Archer not having batted yet, and then bowled Donovan Ferreira in the 18th over with Shanaka left with an over
Rajasthan Royals suffered their third successive defeat, and find themselves sixth with two games left