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Stubbs, Miller win Delhi Capitals a thriller against Royal Challengers Bengaluru
One needed off two balls.
David Miller has been here before in IPL 2026. Against Gujarat Titans he had turned down the tie and ended up costing Delhi Capitals (DC) the game. Ten days later, Miller was in a similar situation once again. Except on Saturday, he won the game for DC with a ball to spare, handing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) their second defeat of the season and first at home.
It came to DC needing 15 off the final over bowled by Romario Shepherd, who was bowling his first of the game. Miller had missed out on the first ball – a hittable delivery on leg stump that cost RCB just one run – and Tristan Stubbs also managed only a single next ball, leaving DC needing 13 off four balls. Miller completed his redemption arc with 6, 6, 4 off the next three balls to stun the Chinnaswamy into silence.
Virat Kohli and Phil Salt gave RCB a swift start on a slower-than-usual Chinnaswamy pitch after they were asked to bat first. Kohli nicked the second ball he faced from Auqib Nabi, between slip and short third, and Mukesh also found swing in his opening over. But nothing could stop Kohli from shimming out of his crease twice and pumping Mukesh for a pair of fours over cover. However, when he tried to treat Lungi Ngidi in a similar way in the last over of the powerplay, the seamer shifted his line wider of off and had Kohli caught at sweeper cover, the only man on the boundary on the off side, for 19 off 13 balls.
In comparison, Salt had managed just 13 off his first 13 balls, but turned up the tempo when he took Nabi for 4, 6, 4 in the fifth over. When he cracked Kuldeep Yadav over wide long-off for six, he brought up his half-century off 30 balls. Salt hit Kuldeep for another six before the left-arm wristspinner pushed one away from Salt’s swinging arc and had the batter holing out to wide long-off this time for 63 off 38 balls. The slowness in the surface also played a part in Salt’s dismissal.
Kuldeep and his captain Axar Patel combined to slow RCB down even further. Axar, who had delayed his introduction into the attack until the tenth over, possibly because of the presence of Devdutt Padikkal, managed to have the left-hand batter caught at long-on, though he had erred too full.
Tim David rose above the conditions and ran away to 26 off 15 balls. His drilled six off Ngidi in the 12th over had Kohli off his seat in the dressing room and the Chinnaswamy erupting in joy. Axar, though, played killjoy when he drew an outside edge from David that landed into the hands of short third. David had denied Jitesh Sharma, who was struggling at the other end, strike and turned down a single off the previous ball, but Axar shifted his line wide of off and bested David with turn.
Rajat Patidar had already been dismissed by Mukesh Kumar for 8 off four balls and Shepherd couldn’t fire either, Kuldeep trapping the West Indian allrounder lbw for 1. The pressure piled on RCB as they went 25 balls without a boundary until Jitesh found it in the 18th over. It should have been a catch at short third, but the ball evaded Mukesh’s outstretched left hand and snuck away to the deep-third boundary. Mukesh, who had landed face-first into the ground, left the field in discomfort, having completed his quota of four overs.
RCB didn’t score a boundary in their last two overs and only scored two in their last six overs. At the innings break, former RCB captain Faf du Plessis reckoned that the hosts were ten runs short.
The first two overs from Bhuvneshwar Kumar in RCB’s defence was a passage of play straight out of Test-match cricket. With two slips in place, Bhuvneshwar got the new ball to swing both ways and tore through DC’s top order.
He produced the opening breakthrough when he pinged Nissanka’s pad with a big inswinger in his first over. He then went bang bang in his second to dismiss Karun Nair and Sameer Rizvi. DC had brought Nair at No. 3 at his domestic home ground at the expense of a finisher in Ashutosh Sharma, but an outswinger from Bhuvneshwar had Nair carving a catch to deep third for a run-a-ball 5.
Three balls later, Bhuvneshwar had Rizvi caught behind with another outswinger. Jitesh dived full length to his right and pulled off a one-handed screamer, reducing DC to 18 for 3 inside three overs.
KL Rahul and Stubbs brought DC back into the contest with contrasting half-centuries. By the end of the powerplay, DC were 50 for 3, with Rahul contributing 31 off 18 balls. He played some glorious shots, including a flicked six over square leg off an off-stump ball on a Test-match length from Josh Hazlewood.
Rahul scored 22 off ten balls from Hazlewood, extending his T20 tally against him to 135 off 78 balls. Nobody has a better head-to-head record against Hazlewood in T20s.
Rahul also lined up wristspinner Syuash Sharma, but when he tried to attack Krunal Pandya, the left-arm spinner fired in a 103kph dart and had an advancing Rahul holing out for 57 off 34 balls in the 11th over.
Stubbs was on 18 off 17 balls by the time Rahul was dismissed. He picked up the pace in the 13th over, when he hit Rasikh Salam for a pair of fours, including one down the ground off a slower variation. Without taking too many risks, Stubbs added 47 for the fifth wicket with Axar before the latter retired hurt on 26 off 19 balls.
DC required 42 off 25 balls. Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar returned and ramped up the pressure on DC with their wide yorkers and reverse-swinging stump yorkers.
Stubbs briefly diffused the tension in the 18th over when he latched onto a slower bouncer from Bhuvneshwar and launched it over square leg for six. It was Stubbs’ first six off the 40th ball he faced and first boundary for DC after four overs.
Despite that six, Bhuvneshwar conceded only 12 off the over, and Rasikh followed it up with a tight penultimate over, giving away ten runs.
With 14 to defend off the last over, Patidar called up Shepherd, who got away with his first ball when he missed his length. Stubbs then pinched another single off the next ball. Shepherd then cracked under pressure and kept missing the yorker as Miller crashed him for 6, 6, 4.
The first six came off a full toss, which was swatted into the second tier over midwicket. Shepherd then served up a wide half-volley and Miller biffed him over extra-cover for six more. On the next ball, Miller sealed the win with a flicked four to the midwicket fence off a full toss.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 179 for 4 in 19.5 overs (Tristan Stubbs 60*, KL Rahul 57, Axar Patel 26, David Miller 22*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-26, Krunal Pandya 1-24, ) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 175 for 8 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 63, Virat Kohli 19, Devudutt Padikkal 18, Tim David 26, Jitesh Sharma 14, Krunal Pandya 12; Mukesh Kumar 1-32, Lungi Ngindi 2-39, Axar Patel 2-18, Kuldeep Yadav 2-32) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
Harshitha Samarawickrema’s splendid 48 not out off 37 balls took Sri Lanka over the line in a low-scoring thriller against Bangladesh. The defending champions secured a semi-final berth with a four-wicket win, and by virtue of topping Group B, will play the side that finishes second in Group A on Friday.
An excellent opening spell of 2 for 17 from Marufa Akter put Bangladesh in firm control of the match after they posted a below-par target of 115, thanks to Chamudi Prabodha’s career-best figures of 3 for 21.
Sri Lanka found themselves behind the required run rate for much of the chase after losing their top order inside the powerplay and slipping to five down by the tenth over. But a resolute Samarawickrama brought Sri Lanka back into the contest by absorbing the pressure throughout the middle overs before landing the final punches to seal the win. This was Sri Lanka’s seventh consecutive win over Bangladesh.
Praboda strangles Bangladesh
This was only the sixth international match the 17-year-old left-arm spinner had played after making her debut against Pakistan in a three-match T20I series last month, and she doubled her tally of wickets on Sunday.
As Bangladesh looked to rebuild after Juairiya Ferdous fell in the fifth over, Praboda struck in her first over, the seventh of the match, to send the dangerous-looking Dilara Akter back to the hut two balls after being hit for a boundary by her. Dilara made a run-a-ball 26 after adjusting to the slow surface. She made her attacking intent known in the third over when she dispatched three consecutive balls from Sri Lanka pacer Chethana Vimukthi for boundaries.
Praboda and the other Sri Lankan spinners bowled with great discipline and used their variations with great guile to put a stranglehold on the Bangladesh batters, who managed just 114 for 8.
With Sobhana Mostary (34 off 41) and Shorna Akter (9 off 14) stretching their steady 41-run stand into the death overs, the Bangladesh dugout must have anticipated a much bigger total than what they eventually managed. Their hopes were bulldozed by Praboda in her last over as she accounted for both batters inside three balls. The left-arm spinner bamboozled Mostary with flight to have her stumped before drawing Dilara into chipping a tossed-up delivery back to her.
An unlucky outing for Athapaththu
Nilakshi Silva and Vimukthi dropped sitters off Chamari Athapaththu’s bowling, with the former putting down Mostary in the 14th over. Athapaththu eventually got a wicket in her last over, but missed out on a second when on-field umpire Humaira Farah turned down a clear caught-behind appeal off the last ball of her spell.
During the chase, her stay at the crease lasted only two balls, as Fahima Khatun took a sharp catch at first slip when she advanced down the pitch to smash Marufa over the top of her head. That shot, on any other day, would have landed in the stands, as is often the case when Athapaththu charges at the bowlers.
Marufa turns a straightforward chase into a contest
Bangladesh needed early wickets to make a contest of what many expected to be a cakewalk for Sri Lanka, with the required rate below a run-a-ball at the start of the chase. Marufa delivered exactly what was needed, accounting for both Sri Lankan openers.
Marufa had Athapaththu caught at first slip off the last ball of the first over before bowling a jaffa in her next over, rattling Imesha Dulani’s stumps with one that ripped through the gate. Her three powerplay overs yielded 2 for 17.
Sri Lanka’s middle order crumbled under pressure as Sanjana Kavindi was bowled by Sultana Khatun off the last ball of the powerplay. They were soon five down for 44 in the tenth over, but a gutsy 38-run stand between Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva brought them back into the contest and threatened to take the game away from Bangladesh.
Desperate for a breakthrough, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana returned to her trump card in the 17th over, and Marufa obliged with a perfect over to shift the momentum back in her side’s favour. The seamer bowled Silva and conceded only four runs to finish with career-best T20I figures of 3 for 21. It was the fourth time in her 48-match T20I career that she had taken three wickets in the format.
Samarawickrama finishes the job
Ritu Moni had been immaculate in her first three overs, but Samarawickrama plundered 16 runs off her last over – the most conceded in an over in the match – to swing the game in Sri Lanka’s favour.
A lucky inside edge off the second ball raced to the fine-leg boundary as Moni followed Samarawickrama after she backed away to make room on the off side. The next ball landed straight into the advertising cushion at midwicket as the batter swept the medium pacer for six. She then danced down the wicket to launch Nahida Akter for a towering six down the ground, reducing the equation to two off the final over.
The win came off the second ball of the final over, with the ball trickling past the keeper after brushing her pad.
Scores:
Sri Lanka Women 115 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Imesha Dulani 12, Harshitha Samarawickrama 48*, Nilakshika Silva 18, Kaushini Nuthyangana 11*; Marufa Akter 3-21, Sultana Khatun 1-14, Ritu Moni 1-29) beat Bangladesh Women 114 for 8 in 20 overs (Dilara Akter 26, Juairia Ferdous 14, Solbhana Mostary 34, Fahima Khatun 14; Sugandika Kumari 2-22, Chamari Athapaththu 1-20, Chamudi Praboda 3-21, Kavisha Dilhari 1-17) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
Pakistan were bowled out for 55, their lowest total in T20I cricke. A collapse where they lost six wickets for eight runs in 29 balls set them so far back that they couldn’t even bat out 20 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur, who broke new ground by becoming the first player – male or female – to lead her team 150 times in T20Is, had the time of her life celebrating each wicket and eventually scoring the winning runs as well.
Shree Charani shines
Old-fashioned left-arm spin is having a resurgence. India men have found Manav Suthar. India women already had N Shree Charanin. The No. 1-ranked T20I bowler in the world picked up two wickets in her first over on Saturday.
The flight on the ball drew Gull Feroza out of her crease. The drift in had her looking leg side. The dip and the turn resulted in a leading edge and a simple catch to point. The bowler did everything right. The batter did everything wrong. Shawaal Zulfiqar was the only Pakistan batter to put any kind of pressure on India. Charani had her lbw for 14 off 14 and from there it was a procession.
Pakistan’s batting troubles
Playing their 200th T20I, Pakistan went from 27 for 0 to 35 for 6 before the innings was halfway done. They could not find a risk-free way to score runs, absorbing long periods of dot balls and trying to get out of it by playing low-percentage shots, often against the turn, on a Dubai pitch that was offering plenty of it. Only the openers got to double digits and only Zulfiqar was able to score a run a ball.
Rawat’s support act
Prema Rawat finished with figures of 4-0-9-3. Nineteen of her 24 balls were dots. All of that is remarkable considering she is a legspinner, whose release points tend to be just shy of the perpendicular. Like Shane Warne. From there, they turn their wrist over and it can either be awesome or awful. Rawat’s release point is perpendicular, maybe even beyond it, like Rashid Khan’s. And she doesn’t turn her wrist. For the most part, she just flicks the ball out the front of her hand. This gives her better control at the cost of big turn and in T20Is, that trade-off is well worth it. Nobody could hit Rawat off her line and length and when Sadaf Shamas tried, she got bowled off her pads.
A simple enough chase
Scores:
India Women 57 for 3 in 8.4 overs (Shafali Verma 12, Harmanpreet Kaur 18*, Deepti Sharma 12*; Fatima Sana 3-17) beat Pakistan Women in 18.1 overs 55 (Muneesha Ali 13, Shawal Zulfiqar 14, Shafali Verma 1-10, Shree Charani 3-07, Deepti Sharma 2-05, Prema Rawat 3-09) by seven wickets
(Cricinfo)
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