Good morning! Kolkata has undergone quite a turnaround over the past few days, and the numbers are backing it up: the franchise has surged into the playoffs conversation thanks to four straight wins. Meanwhile, Delhi’s home campaign has turned into a nightmare, and their captain is already looking ahead to next season. Here’s the Cricbuzz Pulse from a night when Finn Allen finally played beyond the Powerplay—and then completely took over.
Last night in five lines Pathum Nissanka provided Delhi with another bright start by striking a fluent fifty. KKR’s bowling attack, powered by its spin trio, tightened the screws during the middle overs. Delhi ended up with 142/8, a total described as undercooked after they slipped from 5 for 40 in the middle phase. Finn Allen launched a maiden IPL hundred, smashing it off 47 deliveries. KKR won with 5.4 overs left.
Oh, that happened Finn Allen had been 20 runs off 17 balls after the Powerplay, and in the first six overs he looked unusually restrained compared to his usual tempo. Then the legspin wave arrived. Allen took on Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam with ruthless consistency, turning their bowling into something closer to batting practice. In fact, eight of his ten sixes landed against that legspin duo.
Pulse Awards Finn Allen takes home the poker-face award for initially letting Delhi’s bowlers feel comfortable and then quickly stripping that comfort away with a rapid burst of hitting. Sunil Narine receives the still-doing-this-in-2026-somehow award for finishing his four overs with figures of 17 runs and one wicket. Anukul Roy earns the side-character-steals-the-scene award for entering a match where most of the noise had been about Narine and Varun, only to dismiss Nissanka and Stubbs within the same over. Ajinkya Rahane grabs the workplace-wellness award for interviews that come across like a team-building session.
Talking point Kuldeep’s slump has become a key theme behind Delhi’s recurring problems. Across 10 games, he has managed just seven wickets. His economy rate stands at 10.66 per over—marked as the second-worst figure for a spinner who has bowled at least 25 overs in an IPL season. On top of that, he has already been hit for 29 sixes. However, the bigger concern is the lack of breakthrough wickets: in six of his 10 outings this season, Kuldeep has gone wicketless. His strike rate has also inflated to 28.2, a sharp rise from his career T20 number of 16.8.
The Chatter Finn Allen admitted that earlier in the season he was “putting too much pressure” on himself. On the shift in his approach against Delhi, he said it was “a little bit challenging at the start” while Axar Patel was bowling well. From there, he “knuckled down,” “took a bit of responsibility,” and focused on getting “a win on the board.” Axar Patel, for his part, felt the “spinners made quite a few mistakes” and stressed that there is “a long journey” ahead. He added that Delhi will now plan for next year, saying they will think about “what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take.” Delhi’s Director of Cricket, Venugopal Rao, said the “batters need to take responsibility” and that the “’I’ll do it, rather than somebody else does it’ feeling is missing.” Cameron Green said he was “100 per cent ready to bowl four overs,” noting that the current balance of the side meant he didn’t have to complete his full quota in that game.
Stat snack Finn Allen became only the second New Zealand batter to score an IPL hundred, following Brendon McCullum.
Gossip column Word around the grounds is that the real reason players were pulled up for vaping is that fielders are already dropping enough catches under lights during this IPL season. With flat pitches keeping the ball skidding and constantly sending shots off the middle, the league apparently didn’t want players blaming vape clouds instead.
Tonight’s watchlist Rajasthan Royals, who have lost four of their last six matches, face Gujarat Titans in Jaipur. Gujarat’s assistant coach Parthiv Patel joked that their games are “not high-scoring, we are dismissing teams for 150!”. That line will surely have Vaibhav Sooryavanshi listening closely.
Reckless prediction for tonight’s match Prasidh Krishna is set to cover every corner of Jaipur—thanks to a 15-year-old who has a half-ticket and a full swing.
