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Delhi Capitals needed two runs off the last ball to win. David Miller had just hit a six off the fourth delivery to bring it to 2 off 2. But Kuldeep Yadav was run out by Jos Buttler from behind the stumps off the final ball of the match, and the Gujarat Titans won by 1 run.
DC reviewed for a wide that was not wide and the celebration was confirmed. It was the kind of finish that IPL exists to produce and the kind of loss that takes days to process.
Shubman Gill's 70 and Jos Buttler's 52 off 27 built GT's total of 210 for 4 and KL Rahul's 92 off 52 nearly won it for DC before Rashid Khan's 3 for 17 turned the game inside out in the middle overs.
DC vs GT: Gujarat build 210 on Gill and Buttler and Washington Sundar's late blitz
Delhi won the toss and elected to field first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 8. GT's powerplay produced 63 runs without a wicket, with Gill and Buttler both looking in exceptional touch from ball one.
Sai Sudharsan fell for 12 in the second over, but that was the only early setback. Buttler was the aggressor, scoring 52 off 27 balls with three fours and five sixes before Kuldeep Yadav bowled him in the eighth over. Gill then settled into a more measured role, accumulating with precision and consistently finding the boundary.
He scored 70 off 45 balls with four fours and five sixes before Lungi Ngidi had him caught in the 17th over with GT at 183 for 3. Washington Sundar's arrival changed the tempo entirely. He smashed 55 off 32 balls with six fours and two sixes, and by the time Mukesh Kumar removed him off the penultimate ball of the innings, GT were 205 for 4.
Glenn Phillips hit 14 not out off 9 to finish and Rahul Tewatia closed with 1 not out as GT posted 210 for 4. Lungi Ngidi was DC's best bowler with 1 for 24 from four overs, while Mukesh Kumar took 2 for 55 and Kuldeep took 1 for 42.
KL Rahul's 92 nearly wins it for DC until Rashid Khan changes everything
DC's chase began like a match-winning effort. Pathum Nissanka and KL Rahul put on 76 for the first wicket, with Nissanka scoring 41 off 24 and Rahul playing one of the finest innings of the season so far.
Rahul reached his fifty off 29 balls and was batting with complete authority at the Kotla. DC were 63 for 0 at the powerplay, and when Rahul brought up his 50, the chase looked comfortable. Then Rashid Khan bowled.
Nitish Rana fell for 5 in the ninth over, and off the very next ball, Sameer Rizvi was bowled for a duck by Rashid, making it 101 for 3 from 101 for 1 in the space of two deliveries. David Miller retired hurt at 130 for 3 after 12 balls and the innings lost its shape.
Axar Patel fell for 2, Tristan Stubbs was run out for 7, and Rahul was caught for 92 off 52 balls in the 17th over, leaving DC needing 45 off 18 with their lower order batting. Rashid finished with 3 for 17 from four overs, the decisive performance of the match.
DC vs GT: The last over, the last ball and the finish nobody will forget, especially David Miller
DC needed 13 off the final over with Vipraj Nigam and David Miller, who had returned after retiring hurt, at the crease.
Prasidh Krishna was handed the ball. Nigam hit a four off the first ball, and then Gill caught him at mid-off off the second for 12, leaving Miller on strike. Kuldeep Yadav came in and steered a single to bring Miller back for the fifth ball. Miller hit a six over long-off off the fifth delivery to bring DC to needing 2 off 1.
With mid-off and mid-on inside the ring due to a slow over-rate penalty, the equation looked just about possible. Prasidh bowled short and angled in. Miller missed the pull. The ball went on the bounce to Buttler, who gathered it cleanly and underarmed it onto the stumps.
Kuldeep ran and dived, but Buttler's throw was too accurate. The third umpire checked for a wide. Miller's head height was measured at 1.87 meters, and the ball had passed at 1.75 meters. Fair delivery.
GT won by 1 run. Miller was emotional at the end. DC had come as close as a single run to winning and gone home with nothing.
