‘No Home Advantage’ For Delhi Capitals; Finn Allen’s Unbeaten Century Boosts KKR’s Playoff Chance

Rakesh Thapliyal

New Delhi: ‘No home advantage’ continued for Delhi Capitals in the IPL season 2026 at Arun Jaitley stadium as Kolkata Knight Riders crushed host team in an one sided encounter by 8 wickets. DC have now suffered four consecutive defeats at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

KKR’s century man Finn Allen (100 not out 47 balls, 10×6, 5×4) and spinners Anukul Roy (2/31), Sunil Narine (1/17) and Varun Chakaravarthy (0/28) played important roles in this Victory. KKR’s pacers complemented the spinners superbly, with Kartik Tyagi (2/25), Vaibhav Arora (1/29) and Cameron Green (1/12) striking at key moments to ensure Delhi never found sustained rhythm.

It is felt that two different pitches were used for both the teams. When DC batted it Looked that pitch is assisting bowlers and when KKR came to bat pitch was behaving like batting paradise.

KKR’s Captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and invited DC team to bat first. DC could managed only 142/8 in 20 overs. In reply, KKR scored143/2 in14.2 overs and easily won the match.

This was KKR’s fourth consecutive win and it kept their playoff hopes alive, while DC’s campaign moved dangerously close to elimination.

Pathum Nissanka (50) and Ashutosh Sharma (39) tried hard to take DC to a fighting score.

In the next three games we will see how things work out: Venugopal

In the post match press conference Venugopal Rao, Director of Cricket,  for the Delhi Capitals answered the questions given below.

On the road ahead and possible changes in the remaining games

In the next three games we will see how things work out. We will take it one game at a time. Obviously, we will look at the bench players as well if required. That is definitely something we want to try and assess going forward.

On the team’s performance across departments

See, it was not just one department. I think all three departments failed today. After getting a good start, we were in a strong position with just one wicket down after seven or eight overs. But after that, for the next six or seven overs, we could not get boundaries.

In a tournament of this level, you cannot miss those chances. We need to win the small phases and key moments in games, not only in batting but also in bowling and fielding. If you look at the whole tournament, we have not managed to win those small areas consistently. One day it is batting, another day it is fielding, another day it is bowling.

In the last couple of matches, batting has been the major concern, especially when batting first. Even in the last match, we struggled in the first ten overs and then recovered in the second half. Today also, after getting a good start, we could not capitalize. In a tournament like this, you cannot afford to lose those important phases.

On the disappointment of the campaign and lessons learned

Obviously, after 18 years in cricket, it hurts. When I look back at my playing days, I always wanted to win. But now, coming into the administrative and coaching side, there is still a lot I am learning through this process. As I mentioned earlier, we still want to try a few things and see how it works out in the remaining games.

On the batting unit and taking responsibility

I think overall, you cannot keep coaching players at this level. Everyone here is experienced. At the end of the day, players need to read the situation and understand the conditions. Only when you adapt can you win matches.

You cannot keep sending messages constantly as a batting group. One more important thing is responsibility. When things are not going well, as a batting unit, individuals need to take responsibility and say, “I will do it,” rather than waiting for somebody else to do it. I feel that is something missing at the moment. Maybe in the next couple of games, things will turn around for the batting unit.

On Kuldeep Yadav’s form and impact

A person like him has a huge amount of experience. He has been part of two World Cup-winning squads. Sometimes bad patches happen. Every player goes through it.

I felt somewhere he lost his rhythm a little bit, but I think he will come back. He has been playing for more than ten years in this circuit, so he understands the game well. You cannot point fingers at one player. These things happen in tournaments like this. We are facing those challenges right now.

With players like him and Axar, if both are in good form together, it strengthens the bowling group a lot. When one is doing well and the other is not, especially in the middle overs, it hurts the bowling unit. That is something we are facing at the moment.

On inconsistency across batting, bowling and fielding

Sorry, I cannot point to just one department. In different matches, different departments have let us down. Against Punjab, we scored heavily but then dropped catches while bowling. In some games, the bowlers did well but the batters could not adapt.

In the last two games especially, the batters struggled to adapt to the conditions. Overall, if you ask me, yes, batting has been an area where we needed to adapt better in certain conditions. Even in the first few games, after losing four or five wickets, we still managed to win a couple of matches. But sometimes, I think, the batting unit has let us down.

On trying out new batting order

People will obviously ask whom you want to drop, Pathum or KL. But when it comes to captains and senior players in this format, you always want experienced people like them to do well. They have been part of World Cup-winning squads and came into this tournament with strong reputations.

Somewhere along the way, I think a few players lost form. Hopefully, they come back strongly in the next three games. It hurts when you look at today’s opposition and see that some of the senior players could not perform. But we need to face the reality and accept it.

On losing crucial moments throughout the season

No, it is not only about the Punjab game. Even in the Gujarat game here, and in several other matches we needed to win, we lost important phases. That is what I keep saying. To win matches, you need to win key patches during the game.

We have not done that consistently. If you look back, not just against Punjab but also Gujarat, there were moments where two balls or two runs shifted the momentum away from us. Then we lost the Chennai game as well.

We did win against RCB, but after that against Punjab we also had issues like injuries and concussion substitutions. But we cannot keep giving excuses. We need to face the situation as it is.

In a tournament like this, you cannot point to just one match. If you look back from the Gujarat game to today’s match, in almost every game we have not managed to win the small moments and key phases. That is why we are in this position on the points table right now.