RCB’s Chinnaswamy had become the place visiting teams went to lose. Five straight home wins in IPL 2026, the defending champions riding a wave, and this — their 100th IPL match at the ground — was supposed to be a coronation. Delhi Capitals turned it into a heist.
DC beat RCB by 6 wickets with a ball remaining, chasing 176 after being 18 for 3 inside three overs. That scoreline alone tells you this wasn’t a cruise. It was a rescue mission that became a mugging.
The Birthday Boy Who Refused to Panic
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was vintage in the powerplay — 3/26, swinging through Nissanka, Karun Nair, and Rizvi like it was 2016. DC were staring at a collapse. KL Rahul walked in at 2/1, watched the carnage unfold at the other end, and decided his 34th birthday deserved better. His 57 off 34 balls — fifty off just 30 — rebuilt the innings from rubble. He added 69 with Tristan Stubbs before slicing one to Kohli at long-off.
But Rahul’s job was never to finish. It was to make finishing possible. And the man he handed it to had unfinished business.
Spin Chokehold, Then the Kill Shot
Before the last over mattered, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel had already won the match — just from the other end. Their combined 7 overs cost 50 runs and took 4 wickets, strangling RCB from 99/1 to 146/5 in the middle overs. Phil Salt’s excellent 63 off 38 wasn’t enough once the spinners gripped the pitch. That blueprint — chasing teams exploiting conditions — is becoming a pattern.
Then came the 20th over. DC needed 15. Romario Shepherd had the ball. David Miller — the man who couldn’t close DC’s earlier game the way he wanted — stepped in. Six. Six. Four. Game over. Miller finished 22 not out off 10 balls at a strike rate of 220.
Stubbs took Player of the Match for his anchoring 60 not out. Fair. But everyone at the Chinnaswamy knew who changed the mood in that stadium.
RCB sit second with 8 points. DC climb to fourth with 6. The defending champions still have the better record — but their fortress just got its first crack. And every team in IPL 2026 now knows: the Chinnaswamy is beatable. You just need the spinners to choke and a finisher who owes one.