Indian Premier League 2026 - 39th Match
DC
0/0
vs
RCB
0/0
Match starts at Apr 27, 14:00 GMT
won the toss and chose to
Commentary
Preview by Purnima Malhotra
Can a one-day turnaround help Delhi Capitals bounce back from the stinging defeat to Punjab Kings, who chased down a world-record 265 with more than an over to spare? In the unforgiving world of the IPL, it has to. For Delhi, there's neither time nor the luxury to dwell on the what ifs anyway, especially with second-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru already in town.
At the halfway mark, DC have more losses against their name than wins. All four defeats have come in the last-five outings - a slump that folllwed yet another promising start to their IPL 2026 campaign. Back at home, against the table toppers PBKS, Delhi piled on a mammoth score only for the bowling and fielding to collectively let them down in a game where the batters finally stepped up.
Lungi Ngidi's freak injury also compromised their attack on Saturday. Now with Mitchell Starc unavailable until the start of next month, the concerns in an already misfiring pace department have compounded. Hurt and vulnerable as they may be, Delhi can't afford more slip-ups heading into the business half of the season.
For RCB, the timing couldn't be better to settle scores from the reverse fixture while tightening their grip on a top-two finish. Virat Kohli remains firmly in the Orange Cap conversation, but this RCB unit has thrived on collective batting contributions. Devdutt Padikkal's consistency and Rajat Patidar's aggressive middle-order strokeplay have added more stability and firepower, making their line-up far more shock-proof.
Where RCB may hold a decisive advantage, though, is with the ball. Spearheaded by the miserly Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and further strengthened by the return of Josh Hazlewood, their attack looks better equipped to exploit Delhi's batting frailties. In conditions that promise a bucketload of runs, discipline with the ball and execution under pressure is where the visitors might potentially run away with the contest in Virat Kohli's Delhi.
When: Monday, April 27 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
What to expect: A run-fest yet again. The average first innings total in Delhi, since IPL 2023, is 200.
Head-to-head: RCB hold a clear advantage, leading 20-13 (one no-result) across 34 encounters. However, since 2023, the rivalry has been evenly poised, with both teams winning three games each. At the Kotla, Delhi have managed just four wins against RCB, who have triumphed seven times at the venue.
Teams Watch
Delhi Capitals
Injuries & Availability: Lungi Ngidi has returned to the team hotel after being cleared of any serious injury, but he is unlikely to feature in the immediate future. Among the reserves, Kyle Jamieson and Dushmantha Chameera remain the like-for-like replacement options.
Tactics & Matchups: Jitesh Sharma has struggled against Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, scoring just 32 and 15 runs respectively at strike rates of 110.34 and 78.94. Between them, the DC spin duo has dismissed the wicketkeeper four times in T20s, setting up an intriguing middle-overs contest.
Probable XII: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (C), Kyle Jamieson/Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Auqib Nabi
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries & Availability: Phil Salt has been ruled out of the Delhi fixture, but Rasikh Dar appeared fit and sharp during training on match-eve.
Tactics & Matchups: In his maiden IPL stint, Pathum Nissanka has blown hot and cold, more often than not losing his wicket inside the Powerplay. On Monday, he faces Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has dismissed him three times in four T20 meetings, conceding just 22 runs off 24 balls - a chink RCB will look to exploit early. Bhuvneshwar has also dismissed KL Rahul and Nitish Rana twice each in all T20s.
Probable XII: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salim Dar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Did you know?
- Virat Kohli has been dismissed for a single-digit score only once across 21 innings in IPL run-chases.
- Since 2023, RCB have a win record of 91.67% when Kohli scores a fifty and only 33.33% when he doesn't.
- KL Rahul has 839 runs against RCB, striking a touch above 145 and at an impressive average of 69.91 in 18 innings.
What they said:
"Krunal Pandya is a player that this game is going to remember for a long time. He's doing something that has not been done before, pushing the boundaries of what finger-spinner means. He's bowling deliveries that people really couldn't fathom a few years ago and he's becoming a master at it and he's using it very cleverly when the situation demands and he's using that as a strength of his to put pressure back on the person that he's bowling against. It's actually quite interesting to see how he goes about it mentally as well. He's not someone who's just doing it because it looks cool. He knows that given the moment when he does want to use it, it does create a doubt in the batter and a lot of the times delivers the result that he wants out of that ball." - Dinesh Karthik, RCB batting coach, on Krunal Pandya's success
Can a one-day turnaround help Delhi Capitals bounce back from the stinging defeat to Punjab Kings, who chased down a world-record 265 with more than an over to spare? In the unforgiving world of the IPL, it has to. For Delhi, there's neither time nor the luxury to dwell on the what ifs anyway, especially with second-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru already in town.
At the halfway mark, DC have more losses against their name than wins. All four defeats have come in the last-five outings - a slump that folllwed yet another promising start to their IPL 2026 campaign. Back at home, against the table toppers PBKS, Delhi piled on a mammoth score only for the bowling and fielding to collectively let them down in a game where the batters finally stepped up.
Lungi Ngidi's freak injury also compromised their attack on Saturday. Now with Mitchell Starc unavailable until the start of next month, the concerns in an already misfiring pace department have compounded. Hurt and vulnerable as they may be, Delhi can't afford more slip-ups heading into the business half of the season.
For RCB, the timing couldn't be better to settle scores from the reverse fixture while tightening their grip on a top-two finish. Virat Kohli remains firmly in the Orange Cap conversation, but this RCB unit has thrived on collective batting contributions. Devdutt Padikkal's consistency and Rajat Patidar's aggressive middle-order strokeplay have added more stability and firepower, making their line-up far more shock-proof.
Where RCB may hold a decisive advantage, though, is with the ball. Spearheaded by the miserly Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and further strengthened by the return of Josh Hazlewood, their attack looks better equipped to exploit Delhi's batting frailties. In conditions that promise a bucketload of runs, discipline with the ball and execution under pressure is where the visitors might potentially run away with the contest in Virat Kohli's Delhi.
When: Monday, April 27 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
What to expect: A run-fest yet again. The average first innings total in Delhi, since IPL 2023, is 200.
Head-to-head: RCB hold a clear advantage, leading 20-13 (one no-result) across 34 encounters. However, since 2023, the rivalry has been evenly poised, with both teams winning three games each. At the Kotla, Delhi have managed just four wins against RCB, who have triumphed seven times at the venue.
Teams Watch
Delhi Capitals
Injuries & Availability: Lungi Ngidi has returned to the team hotel after being cleared of any serious injury, but he is unlikely to feature in the immediate future. Among the reserves, Kyle Jamieson and Dushmantha Chameera remain the like-for-like replacement options.
Tactics & Matchups: Jitesh Sharma has struggled against Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, scoring just 32 and 15 runs respectively at strike rates of 110.34 and 78.94. Between them, the DC spin duo has dismissed the wicketkeeper four times in T20s, setting up an intriguing middle-overs contest.
Probable XII: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (C), Kyle Jamieson/Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Auqib Nabi
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries & Availability: Phil Salt has been ruled out of the Delhi fixture, but Rasikh Dar appeared fit and sharp during training on match-eve.
Tactics & Matchups: In his maiden IPL stint, Pathum Nissanka has blown hot and cold, more often than not losing his wicket inside the Powerplay. On Monday, he faces Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has dismissed him three times in four T20 meetings, conceding just 22 runs off 24 balls - a chink RCB will look to exploit early. Bhuvneshwar has also dismissed KL Rahul and Nitish Rana twice each in all T20s.
Probable XII: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salim Dar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Did you know?
- Virat Kohli has been dismissed for a single-digit score only once across 21 innings in IPL run-chases.
- Since 2023, RCB have a win record of 91.67% when Kohli scores a fifty and only 33.33% when he doesn't.
- KL Rahul has 839 runs against RCB, striking a touch above 145 and at an impressive average of 69.91 in 18 innings.
What they said:
"Krunal Pandya is a player that this game is going to remember for a long time. He's doing something that has not been done before, pushing the boundaries of what finger-spinner means. He's bowling deliveries that people really couldn't fathom a few years ago and he's becoming a master at it and he's using it very cleverly when the situation demands and he's using that as a strength of his to put pressure back on the person that he's bowling against. It's actually quite interesting to see how he goes about it mentally as well. He's not someone who's just doing it because it looks cool. He knows that given the moment when he does want to use it, it does create a doubt in the batter and a lot of the times delivers the result that he wants out of that ball." - Dinesh Karthik, RCB batting coach, on Krunal Pandya's success
Squads:
Delhi Capitals Squad: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Rana, David Miller, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Auqib Nabi Dar, Vipraj Nigam, Lungi Ngidi, Ashutosh Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, Mitchell Starc, Kyle Jamieson, Rehan Ahmed, Prithvi Shaw, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Abishek Porel, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Venkatesh Iyer, Philip Salt, Jacob Duffy, Nuwan Thushara, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal