Delhi Capitals had a shaky start to the 242 chase posted by SRH’s with explosive batting from Abhishek Sharma and Henrich Klassen. SRH didn’t start off with a good bowling side but with introduction of debutant Parful Hinge, Sakib Hussain ever since that RCB gain things have turned also the joining of Madushanka gave them a boost. Tonight Eshan Malinga took 4 wickets keeping DC batsman in constant check. But Nitish Rana only stood tall in this chase with a 57 off 30 balls.

Nitish Rana in IPL 2026 was traded by Rajasthan Royals to Delhi Capitals for INR 4.2 crore. DC took a bold decision to bring Nitish Rana in place of Aquib Nabi in the squad ahead of the game. The decision makes sense as SRH has three top order batsman Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Ishan Kishan who are left handed and captain Axar though to utilise Rana’s off spin ability but that of course didn’t help much as he didn’t get any wicket, couldn’t turn the ball as required and gave 55 runs in full quota 4 overs. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav themselves didn’t bowl full 4 overs and instead made Nitish complete his over. Although bowling was a flop from him Nitish didn’t disappoint with his willow, as the only DC batsman who scored a 50+ score and could survive a while but not much to take them to victory.

DC lost by 47 runs against SRH, keeps them at 5th in the table with 6 points

Delhi Capital had a mixed season under captaincy of Axar Patel with 3 wins and 3 loses. With today’s loss they will remain at 5th spot in points table with 6 points whereas SRH will climb up at 3rd spot with 8 points. Oh what a turn of events indeed mid season!

DC actually never got ahead of SRH at today’s chase. The deal was half sealed when Abhishek Sharma went explosive with 135 runs and Henrich Klassen with a power cameo posting 242. Ehsan Mallinga was the star with his 4 wicket haul tonight.

Although Nitish Rana tried to bring momentum with a 50 plus stand but when both Rana and Miller got out for a duck in quick succession, the run rate went higher with no turning back. Stubbs and Sameer Rizvi tried a lot to bring momentum back but it was too late for a 242 chase. It is interesting to see how a team who was at bottom of table with the weakest bowling lineup just made a few debuts and changes of Indian uncapped bowlers and strengthened the bowling. The revelation definitely has been Sakib Hussain who with his incredible variation is so impressive each game since RR game.

Do you think SRH can be in the top four now?