KL Rahul crafted an elegant half-century while Kuldeep Yadav claimed three crucial wickets as Delhi Capitals (DC) crushed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 40 runs in their final league encounter of IPL 2026 at Kolkata on Sunday. Asked to bat first, DC accumulated 203/5 across 20 overs, with Rahul leading the charge with a brilliant 60 from 30 deliveries. Chasing the target, KKR crumbled to 163 all out in just 18.4 overs. Despite a promising beginning spearheaded by Ajinkya Rahane’s impressive 63 from 39 balls, KKR lost momentum during the middle phase. Their final seven wickets tumbled for merely 35 runs, with Lungi Ngidi also securing a three-wicket haul. Delhi Capitals finish IPL campaign with huge victory over Kolkata.
TOSS-
Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and chose to bowl first.
PLAYING XI –
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI):
Ajinkya Rahane(c), Manish Pandey, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya(w), Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Saurabh Dubey, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kartik Tyagi
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI):
Abishek Porel, KL Rahul(w), Sahil Parakh, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Madhav Tiwari, Auqib Nabi Dar, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi
DELHI CAPITALS-
Surrounding Saurabh Dubey’s economical two-over stint during the Powerplay, Delhi Capitals maintained an attacking approach and looked set for a massive total. Abhishek Porel kickstarted proceedings with consecutive boundaries against Anukul Roy, received a chance on 18, but failed to capitalize fully. He became Dubey’s opening scalp, departing for 22 from 18 deliveries. KL Rahul targeted Cam Green for a six and four, while Sahil Parakh, who joined Rahul in the middle, greeted Sunil Narine’s introduction with a towering maximum. Parakh also survived a chance on the following delivery and concluded the Powerplay with another boundary, guiding DC to 53/1, as Dubey delivered excellent figures of 1 for 5 from his allocated overs.
Following a brief slowdown after their blistering beginning, Rahul attacked Narine to regain acceleration. He advanced down the track effectively and hammered two sixes straight over the bowler’s head, plus another four in the same area, during the spinner’s two-over spell in this phase. Narine responded by claiming Parakh’s scalp after the batsman contributed a swift 24 from 17 balls. Rahul reached his 51st IPL half-century in just 25 deliveries and, partnering with captain Axar Patel, demolished Kartik Tyagi in a productive 20-run 11th over. He subsequently punished Roy’s short-length deliveries to collect two additional boundaries. However, the bowler emerged victorious as Rahul was caught in the deep after leading the scoring with 60 at a strike rate of 200.
Whether it was David Miller timing Tyagi’s slower delivery flawlessly or Axar attacking Varun Chakravarthy, the pair continued finding maximums to sustain momentum following a temporary slowdown. Axar, in a similar fashion to Rahul’s dismissal, mistimed one to long-on after contributing 39 from 25 deliveries. Miller and Ashutosh Sharma then launched three additional sixes in the innings’ final seven balls to push DC to 203/5, establishing a challenging target for KKR.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS—
Both Mitchell Starc and Auqib Nabi started with tight opening spells, but KKR’s opening pair quickly changed tempo. Starc’s second over leaked 15 runs, with Finn Allen dispatching one cleanly over long-off for six before finding another boundary past wide slip from consecutive balls. Nabi then faced assault from the KKR captain, who read the lengths perfectly and sent two straight deliveries sailing over the boundary rope. Lungi Ngidi delivered DC’s crucial first breakthrough by removing Allen, though Manish Pandey maintained the aggressive approach to optimize KKR’s Powerplay phase.
Throughout the consolidation period, Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey hammered three maximums off Axar during his second spell, transforming it into an expensive 21-run over. Nevertheless, DC continued taking wickets regularly to prevent KKR from building sustained partnerships. Ngidi again provided the breakthrough, removing Manish for an aggressive 25 from 16 deliveries as he was caught at long-on. Impact player Kuldeep Yadav made an immediate impression in his opening over, limiting Green’s contribution to merely two runs.
Rahane completed a 31-ball half-century to anchor one end, but Kuldeep removed both Rahane and Rinku Singh on consecutive balls of his final over to conclude with match-winning figures of 3 for 20 during his middle-overs contribution. Axar then induced Tejasvi Dahiya to chop one back onto his stumps in the 15th over, leaving KKR struggling at 129/6, requiring 75 more from 35 deliveries. Rovman Powell provided brief excitement with several boundaries, but Starc’s 18th over delivered the decisive blow for the home team, who surrendered three wickets in four balls.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 203/5 (KL Rahul 60 off 30, Axar Patel 39 off 25, David Miller 28 off 19; Saurabh Dubey 2-28) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders 163 all out in 18.4 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 63 off 30; Kuldeep Yadav 3-29, Lungi Ngidi 3-27) by 40 runs.
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