@B0$
Kolkata Knight Riders' spinners stifled DC's batters through the middle overs, and ensured they were held to 142 for 8; a total that was surpassed with 34 balls to spare and 8 wickets in hand, courtesy Finn Allen's 47-ball century. The victory added to the mid-season drama of IPL 2026 as KKR jumped to the seventh spot on the points table to keep their qualification hopes alive, while dashing a bit of momentum for Delhi Capitals.
@B1$
@B2$Delhi Capitals 142/8 in 20 overs [Pathum Nissanka 50 (29), Ashutosh Sharma 39 (28); Sunil Narine 1-17, Kartik Tyagi 2-25, Anukul Roy 2-31) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 147/2 in 14.2 overs [Finn Allen 100* (47), Cameron Green 33* (27); Axar Patel 1-27] by 8 wickets
@B3$
It would be hard to go past a 47-ball century by Allen, but it would be unfair to look past the effort of the spinners in the middle overs that set up the victory. Sunil Narine, especially, was brilliant, conceding only six runs for one wicket in those three overs in the middle, as he choked DC's scoring, created opportunities, and completely seized the momentum of the contest in KKR's favour.
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On a surface where Punjab Kings had chased down 264 a few weeks ago, there were all sorts of promises of another high-scoring contest early on, even as shot-making wasn't as easy. Delhi Capitals, opening the attack with Anukul Roy, realised that soon as Pathum Nissanka took him on early, starting by pulling a second-ball half-tracker for a boundary. Even Sunil Narine was taken apart for 11 runs in his first over as boundaries kept coming mostly down the ground or on the legside. It was all going well for the openers till the last ball of the fifth over, before KL Rahul failed to pick up a slower one and miscued an inside-out shot, ending the opening stand on 49.
@B5$
Not right away. For a while it seemed like DC were still in control, especially with the way Nissanka was finding boundaries every over. He swung Vaibhav Arora's delivery off his pads, dabbed Varun Chakaravarthy through third and picked up Cameron Green's delivery over the ropes, However, as Nissanka was setting the platform for his half-century, Nitish Rana was struggling, and the early signs of trouble against spin began to emerge. Rana was foxed by Green's slower delivery and the ball lobbed to short fine. Nonetheless, at the end of 8 overs, DC still looked reasonably placed at 74 for 2.
@B6$
A spin choke. Over the next six overs, Ankul, Narine and Chakaravarthy bowled two overs apiece, combined to concede only 18 runs and picked three wickets: Sameer Rizvi slogsweeping to deep mid wicket, Nissanka getting stumped to a wide, and Tristan Stubbs getting cleaned up, and the innings came completely undone.
This time, unlike the last game, DC resisted the temptation of bringing in an additional batter as an Impact Sub, and let Ashutosh Sharma and Axar Patel adopt a more cautious approach. Ashutosh survived a close leg before appeal in the 16th over, but the momentum had completely been sucked out. 98 balls into the innings, they were languishing with only 101 runs on the board, before KKR allowed for some runs to leak?
@B7$
Not really. Axar Patel's concerns with the bat continued. He never really found his fluency. However, Ashtosh was dished out several quick deliveries in succession from Chakaravarthy, allowing the ball to come on easily, and be put away with as much ease. The spinner conceded 16 runs in the last four balls off the 17th over and provided some much-needed momentum towards the end.
Even though Tyagi bowled a terrific final over, Ashutosh's late blitz against him and Vaibhav Arora allowed DC to a respectable - even if sub-par - total.
@B8$
To begin with, there was a lot of promise, and the ease of going after a comfortable target. Finn Allen and Ajinkya Rahane were measured with the attack, and were waiting to take advantage of the scoring opportunities. They had cruised away to 29 by the penultimate ball of the third over when a straight hit from Allen had Rahane run out at the non-striker's end.
That dismissal triggered a brief slowdown, one that threatened to make KKR's chase tougher than it seemed till that point. Angkrish Raghuvanshi totally lost sight of the ball while attempting to sweep Axar and ended up getting bowled as the ball bobbled onto the stumps off his gloves. As Axar squeezed in three of his overs in the Powerplay itself, Allen and Green chose a conservative route. Allen clawed his way to a 17-ball 20 by the end of the Powerplay, while Green was just as slow at that point, at a 7-ball 9.
@B9$
Absolutely.
Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav had absolutely nowhere to hide against their onslaught. When they pitched it up, the batters hit them down the ground. When they went shorter, they were quick to rock back and pull. It began with Allen taking down Nigam in the seventh over for a boundary and a six, and followed that up against Kuldeep in the next. Stubbs couldn't hold on to a catch at long on despite attempting a forward dive. He brought up his half-century in the first ball of the 11th over by walking across the crease and comfortably scooping Mitchell Starc for a six.
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The Australian all-rounder took some time to find that gear, and was kept in check, especially by Axar in his final over. He had cantered to 21 runs off 21 balls, but then he too began to take his chances. It began by pulling Kuldeep's half-tracker for a six in the 12th over, and then became a mere spectator to Allen's six-fest from the other end. He even took a single off the first ball of the 15th over to give Allen, batting at 94, a shot at a century. And the New Zealander took that opportunity and clubbed his 10th six of the innings to wrap up the game.
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While KKR have leapfrogged to the seventh spot with their fourth win of the season, and nine points to their credit, DC have fallen to the eighth spot with only three games remaining in the league stage. Despite the mathematical possibilities, Axar offered a resigned look. "We will plan for the next season and try to see if we can give chances to those who are on the bench in the upcoming games," he said after the loss against KKR.
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While KKR will have a long break ahead of their next game against RCB in Raipur (May 13), DC will fly to Dharmasala to take on Punjab Kings on Monday (May 11).
