RR vs DC IPL 2026 highlights: Delhi Capitals beat Rajasthan Royals by 7-wickets

Well, there it is, after a bit of topsy-turvy curve in the tournament, Delhi have finally gotten over the line. KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka did a sublime job up at the top order to get things underway, and that set the foundation. The pitch played brilliantly and did seem like a judgment error at the toss from Riyan Parag. That's it from us folks. Do join us for tomorrow's game.

Jofra Archer has returned to the attack and picked up the wicket of set batter KL Rahul. It is a pretty good wicket for Rajasthan to get. Now they can squeeze the Delhi Capitals batting; they have two new batters in the middle, Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma.

It is hard to pinpoint bowling issues in Rajasthan. This attack does not have the penetration for games like this. Sandeep Sharma, with his slower ball, would have been quite handy. With this attack all-in pace, it does seem like the ball is coming nicely onto the bat. As we update, Deshpande picked up Nitish Rana here.

Pathum Nissanka is the wicket that has fallen here. He tried to reverse-sweep the ball, and it hit the pad. The batter sent it upstairs, but there was no change in the decision. All three reds came up. Brilliant opening partnership though this from Capitals, it has set up this chase nicely. As we update KL Rahul smashed 50.

Pathum Nissanka has scored a sublime half-century here. He has not played in the previous game and it looks like he made a few corrections today and has gone past that landmark. Delhi would want him to convert this innings into 80 or 90 and match Riyan Parag's innings in the first essay, which will make the chase easy for Capitals.

This is a fine start for the Capitals; both Rahul and Nissanka are bludgeoning the Royals' seamers. The ball is coming nicely onto the bat. It does seem like there was a bit of miscalculation from the Royals at the toss. Archer has been their strength, and he has not been able to pick up the wicket with his new ball spell.

(how do you assess the score?) I mean, everyone is very happy, sir. The way we are finishing innings, we did it in the last match as well, and everyone is contributing, so it’s good for the team. And as a bowling unit, we feel this is a target we can defend. (How do you maintain balance and stay committed to your game?) Sir, like you said, it’s a long tournament and we were told to go in, assess the conditions and play accordingly. That’s what I was trying to do. We lost two early wickets and Riyan and I were talking about how we could bat deep and get the team into a strong position so that the middle order and lower middle order could get the freedom to bat later on. (What were your impressions of the pitch?) No sir, it’s a good wicket. The ball was coming on nicely to the bat. Our plan was to score around 50-60 in the powerplay and then build the innings from there. That’s what happened. And the way Riyan batted today was unbelievable. We had all been waiting for an innings like that from him. It was good to see it come at this stage of the tournament and hopefully it helps us going forward as well.

Although wickets have fallen, Ferreira is playing nicely here. This is the kind of innings the Royals needed to get them to that 210 mark, but will that be enough? We have to see. The runs have come quite easily, so for the Royals, they did not have to change too many gears, and the wicket, too, is playing pretty well.

So far, this wicket has played well. The way Rajasthan are batting here, they need to get about 200, but whether that will be enough will be interesting to see. Sunrisers chased a massive total on this wicket. Pitch today has not shown any dryness with a softer ball. It is coming nicely onto the bat.

Riyan Parag has got to his half-century here. Brilliant innings from the Royals skipper, his side needed him to get into form, and that is what he did. Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel at the other end is also playing a nice hand. This partnership is now hurting the Capitals; they need to break this partnership. As we update Axar has picked up Jurel.

Things were going to plan for the Delhi Capitals, but the third over from Kyle Jamieson did leak a few runs. That third over in the powerplay is always a tricky business, and it did not work for Delhi today. Kuldeep Yadav has come into the attack. The eight overs of spin today might be crucial.

Kyle Jamieson has picked up the wicket of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi here. It was a fuller ball, and Sooryavanshi tried to drive and got the inside edge onto the stumps. What a good new ball attack that is with Jamieson and Starc. And even after the new ball come Axar and Kuldeep, this is a near-perfect attack, but it is surprising to see where the Capitals are on the table.

Mitchell Starc is here. What can be more exciting than seeing him? The other two Aussies have shown what they can deliver, now all eyes will be on Starc. He has the new ball in hand, and the Delhi Capitals attack looks like a whole different composition with him in it.

We're going to bat first. I think it's not the usual Jaipur wicket. It's a bit dry; we noticed that yesterday and the pitch played a little faster on the other day. So hopefully it gets a little slow in the back end, so that's why we're batting first. (On the win against Punjab Kings) I think the middle order and lower order finishing it like the way they did and the openers as usual starting really brilliantly. But as a collective team effort, chasing down 220 always helps. Everyone's stepping up. That has been the motto, like, as I was saying, we haven't been playing proper and complete cricket for 40 overs. Hopefully we can narrow it down as the tournament reaches the business end. Another show today and we can rest for a few days. Bishnoi comes back in and Shubham is into the main team.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubham Dubey, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma

Buttler admitted he had even texted England pacer Jofra Archer in disbelief over the teenager’s batting exploits.

“I did text Joff, actually and say, you know, is he AI? Has Musk created this teenage sensation who just is an absolute wizard with the bat?”

The former England captain said Sooryavanshi has already become must-watch entertainment whenever Rajasthan Royals take the field.

“And it's that guy, you know, it's like Rajasthan are playing, I'm like, right, I need to turn the TV on to watch this guy play. It's so exciting,” he said.

Broad, meanwhile, praised Rajasthan Royals for spotting and backing talent at such a young age. “Fair play to Rajasthan Royals’ scouting system or academy system or whatever they have done.”

He admitted he was initially surprised when the franchise signed Sooryavanshi as a 14-year-old. “Because I remember when they signed him in the auction, he was 14 at the time, maybe even 13, 14.”

“I thought, gosh, a bit odd for top-flight domestic cricket to get someone so young in.” I was thinking, wow, like a lot of pressure and maybe they're just going to have him around the squad for three years.”

“I think his (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi) psychological makeup is efficient, enough to take on the best bowlers in the world. He took on Jasprit Bumrah. Technically, he’s kind of unique with his bat swing, more like a baseball sort of swing. It’s very hard to see exactly what his weakness is because the back of a length delivery has worked against him, for example, in the under-19 World Cup and against Sunrisers Hyderabad. But then if you don’t get that back-of-a-length delivery where he pulls and top edges early, those same deliveries disappear out of the park. So, I think, technically, he’s set up very well. He has a number of world-class bowlers in this tournament going through plan A, plan B, plan C, plan E, F, and G. And that’s a good sign that he has all these veterans of the game, having to go through a whole host of plans as they try to go yorker, yorker, at him in the previous game. So I think he’s set up well,” Bishop had told the media.

"No, I think you have to give Mitchell Starc credit. He'll come better prepared; he won't be Jasprit Bumrah,” Bishop said on ESPNCricinfo.

“Any time I have to play, be it international, IPL or domestic, I don’t play without having enough personal preparation. And in any case, for the uncapped players, I don’t think they only practice range hitting. We have had camps all over India, in Dubai too. The team tries to keep them involved in cricket,” the Delhi skipper added. “They do work over the basics, too. Because range hitting is possible with strong basics. At the same time, it is a personal choice too. Players need to decide if they want to do those drills or not.”

A leave in an IPL game, at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds, famed to be a batting paradise, is so antithetical to modern-day batting that it only enhanced the pity that was felt around this stadium for a Delhi batting order that capitulated spectacularly in the face of a spell for the ages from Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru had skittled Delhi for the lowest-ever powerplay score in IPL history: 13 for 6 with the duo splitting the wickets and the first six overs.

"I still cannot understand what happened (against RCB). That is why they say you have to be on your toes at all times in cricket. Ifs and buts will be there - like if we had taken that catch or taken that run (against GT). That will keep happening. But each day, you have to be on your toes and keep doing what you have been doing well. You cannot take it easy for even one day."