Kolkata Knight Riders beat Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the 51st match of the Indian Premier League 2026. Delhi Capitals were put into bat first and got a good start with Nissanka scoring a half century. They struggled against the spinners in the middle overs and lost wickets in clusters. Ashutosh Sharma provided a good finish as they ended up with 142/8 at the end of the innings. It was a below par total on that surface. Chasing the target, Kolkata Knight Riders lost a couple of early wickets but Finn Allen smashed a century and along with Cameron Green they ensured that Kolkata Knight Riders chased down the target within 15 overs.
DC 142/8 (Nissanka - 50, Kartik Tyagi 2/25) beat KKR 147/2 (Finn Allen - 100, Axar Patel 1/27)
Cameron Green: (On Finn Allen's knock) So special. I think you only get the chance to be at the other end a handful of times in your career, so that's one of them. (Chat with Allen) Nothing really. I think, Finn, all he said was, 'see you next over.' So, yeah, that's basically what I tried to do. I was just the other end playing second fiddle. (On giving Allen the strike when he was on 94) I think I did the math when we had 29 to get. So yeah, I knew I'd be the most hated man in Kolkata if I did anything else apart from that. (On doing the calculation) No, not us. I was, I did the math. But no, Finn's very good at maths as well, so I'll give him credit for that. So, probably, he was probably doing the same. Winning, that's been the most satisfying. But I think our bowlers have been great all comp. Our spin bowling in particular, they've been exceptional. So I think the fast bowlers around them have just played their part. And obviously, Sunny (Sunil Narine) and Varun have been awesome. And Anu (Anukul) has been chipping in as well. No, you definitely don't look that far ahead (to the playoffs). I think we still have to win every game from here. So, yeah, we won't be looking that far ahead.
Axar Patel:
I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors. But at the same time, if you notice, 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. (So how do you solve that now?) See, you can’t solve it in a complicated way. While Ashutosh and I were batting, we were thinking that if we made a mistake there, it would become very difficult for the next batter coming in. So I think 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. I think that’s what needs to be applied, when wickets are falling in clusters, you need to absorb the pressure for an over or two. (How will you prepare for the remaining matches now?) For now we’ll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there’s still a long journey ahead and next year will come too. 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.
Read More: Axar Patel Captaincy Record
Ajinkya Rahane:
First of all, let me just say I'm really happy for Finn Allen. He was struggling first four or five games, working really hard, but the way he batted tonight was fantastic. But I want to praise our bowlers again. We did well because of them. And they've been doing it so well consistently, especially those middle overs and the death overs. Our spinners, Sunil Narine, Varun and Anukul Roy, has been fantastic. Fielding-wise, yes, we are working really hard. Our fielding coach has been really strict with us. And that's what has been helping us. The result which you've been seeing about the catches and the ground fielding, credit goes to our fielding coach as well. (Conversation with Narine) I think just leave him alone. As a captain, I'm so lucky to have Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy in our side. You don't have to tell them too much. He's learning every day, even the practice session, he's there, attentive, trying to learn something or the other from other players as well. Sharing his experience with everyone. That's what helped me also on the field, sharing his experience. So, I'm really happy that whenever I tell him, Sunny, if you have to bowl, come and bowl. He's always ready for that. It's all about staying in the moment, what we discuss in the dugout and the dressing room. It's always about being in the moment. We've been playing very good cricket in the first five games. Those crucial moments in this format is really important. If you're attentive, if you're proactive, and then being in the moment, that's what helped us. But I want to give credit to our bowling coaches, Tim Southee and Dwayne Bravo. They've been working really hard with our bowlers. It's been fantastic. I'm really happy for Anukul Roy, who had a fantastic domestic season. Kartik Tyagi has been really good, very clear in his mindset, very confident guy. These two guys have been really good. But overall, as a bowling unit, we are doing really well. (On Varun) He's fine. As long as Varun is bowling, he's happy. When he's fielding, he just wants to go inside. But he's fine. He's absolutely fine. One game at a time.
Read More: Ajinkya Rahane Captaincy Records
Finn Allen | Player of the Match:
(This is almost Finn Allen 2.0?) Oh, I think, you know, what I've been working on is trying to have more strings to my bow. We obviously lost a couple of early wickets, so I just tried to have a bit of responsibility and get a win on the board for the boys. (Shifting gears?) I mean, like I said, I just tried to knuckle down early. It was still a little bit challenging at the start, Axar bowled really well and restricted us. So like I said, just try to get in strong positions and bat deep. (About his six hitting) I think that's the model I've been trying to do with my batting, I guess. If it's not easy, stay in there, working with Watto (Watson) and Abhishek (Nayar) as well. You know, just trying to give myself a chance. I feel like I've got a few starts and it's been pretty frustrating, but here nice to, I guess, have a little bit of personal success. (How difficult is it to sort of pace your innings the way you did today?) I think when the situation comes to it, you just forget about my batting and play the situation. I think I knew if I stayed out there for a long period of time, I always come back to trying to bat 40 balls. It doesn't happen too often, but that was just what was keeping me ticking today and trying to take a deep. (How does a player like you react to being out of the side and then coming back?) Oh look, I think sometimes it changes your perspective, right? You go out of the team, have a bit of time for a mental refresh. To be honest, I was just putting too much pressure on myself at the start. So it was nice to have that, sit back, refresh and come back in.
Kolkata Knight Riders have won their previous four matches and it looks like they are peaking at the right time. On the other hand, Delhi Capitals have lost five of their previous six matches and will need to improve a lot going forward.
