Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered their second defeat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on Saturday, April 18. They lost to Delhi Capitals (DC) by six wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The hosts got off to a great start as Virat Kohli and Phil Salt added 52 runs in five overs after DC won the toss and elected to field first. After Kohli was dismissed for 19 off 13 balls, Devdutt Padikkal provided good support to Salt, who started firing on all cylinders after a slow start.
Padikkal and Salt fell in consecutive overs in the half phase of the innings. This was when Delhi Capitals started pulling things back by taking wickets at regular intervals. Tim David played an inning of 26 runs in 17 balls. However, he was out in the 16th over, preventing RCB from producing a stellar performance.
Jitesh Sharma struggled during his 20-ball stay at the crease and scored only 14 runs. In the end, the home team finished at 175/8 in their 20 overs.
In response, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Wreaked havoc with the new ball. The right-arm fast bowler took three wickets inside the first three overs, putting Delhi in trouble. However, the experienced duo of KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs revived the innings by making a partnership of 69 runs in 44 balls. Axar replaced Rahul when the wicketkeeper-batsman was out on 57 (34). However, he had to retire hurt when the DC captain was batting on 26.
David Miller along with Stubbs sealed the victory by scoring 15 runs in the last over of Romario Shepherd. The former player hit two sixes and a four and ended the match with one ball remaining. Meanwhile, Stubbs remained unbeaten on 60 off 47 balls.
talking points
1. Delhi Capitals ends two-match losing streak, reaches top four
The Capitals started the season with consecutive wins before suffering consecutive losses. On Saturday, he came to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as a slightly underdog. However, they were right on the money from the early stages as the bowlers bowled in their own areas and made the RCB batsmen work hard to score runs. Even after losing three early wickets, the experience of the DC batting lineup held them out. Now Capitals have come fourth in the points table by defeating Gujarat Titans.
2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar turned back the clock
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has performed brilliantly in IPL 2026. However, he brought his A-game on Saturday. After the poor performance of the batsmen, he brought the new ball into the limelight and gave three important wickets to his team. Kumar ultimately finished with exemplary figures of 3/26 in his four-over spell.
3. David Miller redeems himself
David Miller was severely criticized by experts and fans for refusing to concede a single run during the run chase in the match against Gujarat Titans and ultimately failing to lead his team to victory. However, he redeemed himself with a remarkable performance in the last over on Sunday. Capitals needed 15 runs in the last over and the first two balls went for singles. However, Miller leveled the score by hitting sixes on the next two balls. On the final delivery of the match, the southpaw hit a four to help the Capitals win the tight encounter.
RCB vs DC: Who said what?
Rajat Patidar, RCB captain
“It was very close, but I think we were 15-20 runs short. The way we started initially, especially Virat bhai and Salt, they gave a good start, but from there, after 12-13 overs, we lost wickets in a few overs and that set us back. I think in the first innings, I would say it was a bit difficult. But I think the way we scored runs in the last over, I think it's a positive sign for us. But I think I was just discussing with the bowlers that whatever you do be clear, it is a long tournament, but I think we will go back and introspect where we made mistakes and we will correct them.
KL Rahul, DC stand-in captain
“The wicket was damaged early on. I could see that Virat and Salt were not happy with the way the ball was coming and we lost three wickets in the powerplay. Overall it was a good game of cricket. The conversation was about keeping playing good cricket shots and how we could hit boundaries. We didn't want to get into a circle and keep the run rate going up. We didn't want to take it too deep and try to put pressure on the bowlers. On Stubbs and Miller There was confidence. They do this every day. We also knew that the last over would be a gamble for RCB and we knew that Shepherd or Suyash would bowl. Ideally, we would have won in the 20th over.”
Tristan Stubbs, Player of the Match
“[Coming in at 18 for 3] I was not at all prepared in the changing room. I just thought about seeing the ball and going from there. Came on really early and in the last two overs of the powerplay I thought I might get a chance. KL got most of the strikes and played brilliant shots and kept our momentum going. I thought he was going well so I was giving him strikes. [The pitch] It wasn't spinning or anything, just a little slow and slow. I play pretty much the same thing I play at home. [The finish with Miller] Kept thinking about three sixes and we were straight back into it. I always thought that in the worst case scenario, we can get whatever we want in the last over. But I didn't want to take it to the last over. I knew we were going to do it, I just didn't know how. But thankfully Miller was on the other end. It's his bread and butter.”
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