KKR Spinners Dominate as DC Stumble to 142/8 in IPL 2026

KKR needs to chase 143 runs in order to get their fourth successive win, while DC needs to defend this total in order to avoid their fifth successive loss at home.

After KKR put DC to bat first, openers KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka started well, collecting runs freely against spinners Anukul Roy and Sunil Narine. The duo was going at almost 10 runs per over. In the fifth over, KL tried to dominate pacer Kartik Tyagi with a couple of fours, but an attempt at going inside-out over covers went straight into hands of Cameron Green, removing him for a 14-ball 23. DC was 49/1 in five overs.

DC reached the 50-run mark in 5.1 overs.

At the end of the powerplay, DC was 55/1, with Nitish Rana (1*) and Nissanka (31*) unbeaten.

Nissanka continued to bat in a free-flow manner against spin, even hitting Green for a six and a four. But the Aussie all-rounder pushed DC back by removing Nitish for a 10-ball eight. DC was 74/2 in eight overs.

Spin started to dominate DC, as Narine removed Sameer Rizvi for seven-ball three, reducing DC to 80/3 in 10 overs.

In the 11th over, Anukul snapped wickets of Nissanka, who had just reached his second-fifty of the competition, courtesy a stumping from keeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 29-ball 50 (with five fours and three sixes) and hit Tristan Stubbs' off-stump when he was at 2. DC sunk to 89/5 in 10.5 overs from a dominant position of 74/1.

Ashutosh Sharma and skipper Axar Patel were well contained by the spinners Varun, Anukul and Sunil in the middle-overs. The spinners put on an exceptional squeeze. From overs 11 to 15, DC could score just 18 runs and only one boundary came from the bat of Nissanka.

DC reached the 100-run mark in 16 overs. It took Ashutosh's six to break a boundary-less streak of 38 balls on the third ball of the 17th over and he further relieved pressure with two more fours, ending the over with 16 runs.

Vaibhav Arora ended skipper Axar's stay at the crease, courtesy a fine catch from Anukul. The captain played a poor knock of 11 in 22 balls, reducing DC to 128/6 in 18.3 overs. However, Ashutosh ended the over with a four and six.

With assistance from skipper Ajinkya Rahane, Kartik got his second wicket, removing Ashutosh for a 28-ball 39, with three fours and sixes each, bringing down DC to 140/7 in 19.2 overs. He also removed Mitchell Starc for a duck, reducing DC to 140/8 in 19.4 overs.

DC ended their innings at 142/8, with Lungi Ngidi (1*) and Vipraj Nigam (3*) unbeaten.

Kartik (2/25 in four overs) and Anukul (2/31 in four overs) were the standout bowlers, while Varun (0/28 in four overs) and Narine (1/17 in four overs) also choked DC with their spin.

- ANI