Delhi Capitals survived a late scare against Rajasthan Royals to keep their IPL 2026 playoffs hopes alive on Sunday. Openers Abhishek Porel and KL Rahul shone with fifties, and Mitchell Starc produced four big wickets to power DC to a 5-wicket win over RR at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

In a must-win game, the Capitals produced an impressive all-round performance against the Royals. After being forced to bat first, RR lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early, but Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel added 70 runs for the second wicket in just 34 balls to keep the Royals on track for a huge total.

After losing Sooryavanshi in the eighth over, RR stayed in control with Riyan Parag scoring a quickfire century. Then came Starc with three big wickets in the 15th over to change the momentum. The Aussie pacer dismissed Dasun Shanaka in the penultimate over to restrict RR to 193/8, and finished with 4 wickets for 40. Ngidi and Madhav Tiwari picked up two wickets each for Delhi.

Chasing 194, Delhi openers KL Rahul and Abhishek Porel scored a fifty each, adding 105 runs for the first wicket. A strong start proved crucial as Dehi lost Sahil Parakh, Tristan Stubbs and David Miller cheaply in the middle overs.

Axar Patel and Ashutosh Sharma kept their nerves in the death overs, guiding the hosts to a 5-wicket victory with four balls remaining. KL Rahul top-scored with 56 off 42 and entered the Orange Cap race, while Ashutosh Sharma smashed 18* off 5 to wrap the innings.

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IPL 2026 playoffs race wide open after DC vs RR game

Delhi recorded their sixth win of the season, jumping to 7th in the points table after 13 games. Now with a game left against KKR next Sunday, Axar Patel's side will hope for some favourable results in other fixtures and qualify for the playoffs with 14 points. However, it's an outside chance considering DC's poor net run rate, as CSK, PBKS, SRH and KKR can still reach 15 or more points.

For the Royals, with just six wins in 12 games, they slipped to sixth position in the points table after losing a last-over thriller against DC. Rajasthan's net run rate is not promising, so to secure a playoff berth, Riyan Parag's side need to win their remaining two games against LSG and MI, teams occupying the bottom two places in the points table.

Earlier on Sunday, RCB defeated Punjab Kings to become the first team to qualify for the IPL 2026 playoffs. The second-placed GT, with 16 points from 13 games, are expected to finish in the top four, leaving SRH, PBKS, CSK, KKR, and DC fighting for the remaining two playoff spots.

Also read: RCB become first team to qualify for IPL 2026 Playoffs as PBKS collapse to sixth straight defeat