Just 22 deliveries into the contest, Kolkata Knight Riders\u2019 slim playoff hopes had already taken a serious hit at Eden Gardens\u2014after the unfolding earlier along the western coast in Mumbai. The match quickly became a formality, with Delhi Capitals posting 203 after their first full batting effort of the season, as contributions came from every member of the lineup. KL Rahul led the way with a 30-ball 60, and Ajinkya Rahane struck a captain\u2019s innings of 63 off 39 in the chase, but support at the other end never truly materialised. KKR were dismissed for 163, handing Delhi a crushing 40-run win.<\/p>\n
Brief scores:<\/b> Delhi Capitals 203\/5 (KL Rahul 60 off 30, Axar Patel 39 off 25, David Miller 28 off 19; Saurabh Dubey 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 163 all out in 18.4 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 63 off 39?; Kuldeep Yadav 3-29, Lungi Ngidi 3-27) by 40 runs<\/p>\nDubey\u2019s PP spell curbs DC\u2019s fiery start<\/h3>\n
On either side of Saurabh Dubey\u2019s two-over Powerplay stint, Delhi Capitals looked aggressive and threatened to surge to a huge total. Abhishek Porel started brightly, hitting consecutive boundaries off Anukul Roy, and he even survived a scare at 18. However, he couldn\u2019t convert that momentum and became Dubey\u2019s first dismissal, managing 22 from 18 balls. KL Rahul then went after Cam Green, striking a six and a four, while Sahil Parakh\u2014promoted into the middle after Porel\u2019s departure\u2014immediately welcomed Sunil Narine with a maximum. Parakh also received another life on the next delivery and finished the opening phase with yet another boundary, taking Delhi to 53\/1. Dubey returned to form with figures reading 1 for 5 across his two overs.<\/p>\n
After a swift start, Rahul steadied the tempo slightly before stepping on the gas again, this time targeting Narine to accelerate. He moved well off his feet and cleared the rope twice straight down the ground, while also finding another boundary in the same area during the spinner\u2019s spell. Narine responded by removing Parakh, who added a brisk 24 off 17. Rahul reached his 51st IPL half-century off just 25 balls, and with captain Axar Patel, he dismantled Kartik Tyagi in the 11th over\u2014adding 20 runs. Delhi then kept pressure on Roy\u2019s short-pitched bowling, taking a couple more boundaries. Still, the bowler struck back late as Rahul was caught in the deep after finishing as top-scorer with 60, at a strike rate of 200.<\/p>\n
Whether it was David Miller timing Kartik Tyagi\u2019s slower delivery with precision, or Axar Patel taking on Varun Chakravarthy, the pair maintained momentum by continuing to clear the ropes after a short quiet spell. Axar, mirroring Rahul\u2019s dismissal pattern, mistimed one to long-on after making 39 off 25 balls. Miller and Ashutosh Sharma then struck three more sixes in the final seven deliveries, lifting Delhi to 203\/5 and setting Kolkata a demanding target.<\/p>\n
Both Mitchell Starc and Auqib Nabi began with controlled opening overs, but KKR\u2019s batters soon changed gears. Starc\u2019s second over went for 15, with Finn Allen sending one well over long-off for six, then squeezing another past wide slip for four off consecutive balls. Nabi soon faced a different test as the KKR skipper attacked early, launching two straight deliveries over the boundary line. Lungi Ngidi finally provided Delhi with the breakthrough by removing Allen, but Manish Pandey carried forward the momentum and maximised KKR\u2019s Powerplay returns.<\/p>\n
During the rebuilding phase, Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey struck three sixes off Axar in his second over, turning it into a costly 21-run segment. Even so, Delhi continued to take wickets at regular intervals to prevent KKR from building a sustained chase. Ngidi broke another stand by dismissing Manish for a quick 25 off 16, with the batter ending up caught at long-on. Impact substitute Kuldeep Yadav made an immediate mark, limiting Green to just two runs in his first over. Rahane continued to hold one end together, reaching a fifty off 31 balls, but Kuldeep then delivered the decisive blow by removing both Rahane and Rinku Singh in successive deliveries of his final over\u2014finishing with game-changing figures of 3 for 20 in the middle overs. Axar then struck again, having Tejasvi Dahiya drag one back onto his stumps in the 15th over, leaving KKR reeling at 129\/6, requiring 75 more from 35 balls. Rovman Powell briefly offered resistance with a few boundaries, but Starc\u2019s 18th over proved the final setback for the hosts, who lost three wickets in four balls.<\/p>\n
Home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just 22 deliveries into the contest, Kolkata Knight Riders\u2019 slim playoff hopes had already taken a serious hit at Eden Gardens\u2014after the unfolding earlier along…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026: Delhi Capitals Beat KKR at Eden Gardens","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"DC set 203 and dominated at Eden Gardens as KL Rahul and Rahane fired, handing KKR a crushing defeat and boosting their playoff push.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n