Delhi Capitals’ disappointing IPL 2026 campaign suffered another major setback as they slumped to a crushing defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Friday. Chasing a modest target, KKR rode on Finn Allen’s sensational unbeaten century to seal an emphatic eight-wicket victory with 34 balls to spare and climb above DC in the points table. The Capitals once again struggled in both departments, and skipper Axar Patel admitted after the match that his side failed to handle pressure situations properly.
“I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes,” Axar Patel said after the defeat. “We lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that’s where the momentum slipped away from us. That’s probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK. We started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling,” he added.
Delhi actually began brightly after being put into bat. KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka stitched together a promising 49-run opening stand, giving the home side early momentum. Rahul looked aggressive during his 23-run knock off 14 balls before Kartik Tyagi dismissed him at a crucial stage.
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From there, the innings quickly lost direction. Sameer Rizvi managed just three runs before Sunil Narine struck, while Nissanka, who had completed a composed half-century, fell to Anukul Roy. Tristan Stubbs also failed to make an impact as Roy tightened KKR’s grip on the contest.
Roy then produced a brilliant run-out to remove Axar Patel, leaving Delhi in deeper trouble. Ashutosh Sharma tried to revive the innings with a fighting 39 off 28 balls, but the lack of support from the other end hurt DC badly. Mitchell Starc was also run out late in the innings as Delhi eventually crawled to 142/8 in their 20 overs. Reflecting on the batting collapse, Axar stressed the need for better game awareness under pressure.
“You can’t solve it in a complicated way. It’s more about applying the right mindset. Even if you lose one or two wickets, you can still spend time at the crease and play through it. When wickets are falling in clusters, you need to absorb the pressure for an over or two,” he explained.
KKR’s chase saw early drama as Ajinkya Rahane was run out in unlucky fashion after a Mitchell Starc deflection hit the non-striker’s stumps. Angkrish Raghuvanshi also departed cheaply, briefly giving DC hope.
However, Finn Allen completely took the game away from the hosts. The New Zealand batter mixed aggression with composure and punished both pace and spin with ease. He found solid support from Cameron Green, who remained unbeaten on 33, as the pair stitched together a match-winning stand.
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Allen eventually brought up his stunning century in just 47 balls, finishing unbeaten on 100 and sealing the victory with a towering six. The defeat leaves the Delhi Capitals staring at an early exit from IPL 2026. Axar admitted the franchise may now look at future planning and giving opportunities to players on the bench.
“We’ll go back and think about the mistakes we made. There’s still a long journey ahead and next year will come too,” Axar Patel said. “So we’ll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take. Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make,” he concluded.
