Delhi Capitals stung Rajasthan Royals in the death overs in both innings to keep their topsy-turvy IPL campaign alive with a five-wicket win in Delhi. Mitchell Starc led the way with the ball with a four-fer that included a three-wicket over while the likes of Axar Patel, David Miller and Ashutosh Sharma joined forces with the bat at the death to see the game through for two crucial points. The loss meant RR missed the chance to move up to fourth and put pressure on the others in the chasing pack.
DC limit RR to a modest total
It’s a curiosity that comes with every RR game these days. And rightly so as the baby-faced star of the tournament once again flayed bowlers in the Powerplay. For the fifth time in IPL 2026, Sooryavanshi got off the mark with a six – getting it off Lungi Ngidi this time. Yashasvi Jaiswal fell in that over but Sooryavanshi carried on, hitting a sensational pull against Mitchell Starc, who angled the ball into his body from round the stumps. He then went after DC debutant Tripurana Vijay in the fifth over for three fours and a six. RR got to 75/1 in 6 overs with Sooryavanshi smashing 42 (16) of those.
DC would have had reason to believe that Madhav Tiwari produced a momentum crushing moment when he got Sooryavanshi to hit a slower one to David Miller at long-on. But that wasn’t the case as Parag played his best knock of an otherwise underwhelming season. He started slow but it seemed a switch within him toggled towards mayhem as he clobbered two towering sixes against Axar Patel and then smashed Mukesh Kumar – both quick and change of pace, for 23 runs in the 12th over. He then got to a 23-ball half-century – his fastest in the IPL and kept RR on course for a total well in excess of 200.
The pacer returned to completely throw RR off the track with a triple-wicket over. First Parag mistimed a slower one to Axar Patel at long-on, Donovan Ferreira then hit a pace-on delivery to the same fielder and debutant Ravi Singh got a second-ball duck – leg-before off another slower one. Dhruv Jurel became the second half-centurion of the innings but he too was tied down at the end. Tiwari executed his slower ones superbly in the 17th over and dismissed Shubham Dubey, prompting RR to throw in Dasun Shanaka as the impact substitute straightaway. He hit Ngidi for a six but was snuffed out by Starc in the 19th over. Ngidi trapped Jurel leg before in the final over where only five runs were picked.
KL Rahul and Axar Patel chase the target easily
KL Rahul enjoyed a charmed life and Abishek Porel brought the roof down as DC flew off the blocks in chase. Rahul was offered a chance by Yash Raj Punja, who dropped him on 0 in the opening over from Jofra Archer. The fast bowler tried to ruffle up Porel with pace – deliveries at 146 and 147 kmph pushing the opener on the back foot. But a slight error in line gave Porel the license to pull him over fine leg for a six. He then hit two fours off Brijesh Sharma to take DC to 50/0 in just four overs. Rahul meanwhile, took his season tally past 500 runs for the eighth time in the IPL. Of the 72 that DC got in the Powerplay, Porel accounted for 38 of them in just 20 deliveries.
DC got out of the Powerplay well ahead of the asking rate but slowed down a touch to get to 105/0 in 10 overs – still on par with the asking rate. Porel then attempted to break the shackles but on a day where slower ones have consumed several batters, the DC opener joined the list. He mistimed one to Donovan Ferreira at long-on. Archer then returned for one over and took out Sahil Parakh while Yash Raj Punja bowled a couple of tight overs to maintain the pressure of a 10-an-over asking rate. Rahul, who got to his 50th fifty-plus score in the IPL, also slowed down, and eventually played a delivery from Dasun Shanaka onto his stumps. Axar Patel and Tristan Stubbs went to the death overs needing to score 52 off 30.
Almost every over at the death the advantage changed hands. Adam Milne kept it tight in a boundary-less nine-run over. Archer was then trusted to do what Starc did earlier. He didn’t bag three wickets but made one key incision with Stubbs’s dismissal to peg DC further back in a chase. With Axar and David Miller in the middle, Parag handed the ball to Ferreira for his off-spin. The gamble backfired as 16 runs came from the South African. It dwarfed the equation to just 19 off 12, but Brijesh returned and dismissed Miller. Any hopes of a turnaround from there however, were swifty extinguished by DC’s impact substitute Ashutosh Sharma, whose five-ball 18 saw DC through.
SCORECARD: Rajasthan Royals 193/8 [Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 46 (21), Riyan Parag 51 (26), Dhruv Jurel 53 (40); Mitchell Starc 4-40, Lungi Ngidi 2-24, Madhav Tiwari 2-27] lost to Delhi Capitals 197/5 in 19.2 overs [KL Rahul 56 (42), Axar Patel 34* (18); Jofra Archer 2-35] by 5 wickets.