IPL 2026: Kolkata knight Riders won by 8 wickets

Date: May 8, 2026 | Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

The Arun Jaitley Stadium witnessed a classic “spin-choke” tonight as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowlers, led by their mystery spinners and the disciplined Anukul Roy, restricted the Delhi Capitals (DC) to a modest total. Despite a fiery start, the Capitals struggled to maintain momentum on a pitch that seemed to slow down significantly as the innings progressed.

Match Summary: First Innings

Delhi Capitals: 142/8 in 20.0 overs
Kolkata Knight Riders: (Chase in progress)
Toss: KKR won the toss and elected to bowl first.

The Batting Breakdown (DC)

Delhi’s innings was a tale of two halves. Pathum Nissanka provided a sparkling start, smashing 50 off 29 balls (5 fours, 3 sixes), taking advantage of the hard new ball. However, once he departed, the middle order crumbled against the KKR spin trio.

Player	Runs	Balls	Key Highlight
Pathum Nissanka	50	29	Reached his second fifty of the season.
KL Rahul	23	14	Fell to a short ball from Kartik Tyagi.
Ashutosh Sharma	39	28	A vital late cameo to push the score past 140.
Axar Patel	11	22	Struggled to rotate strike during the spin squeeze.

The Bowling Masterclass (KKR)

KKR’s decision to bowl first paid off brilliantly. While the pacers were hit early on, the spinners turned the game. Anukul Roy was the standout, picking up two crucial wickets in a single over to break the back of Delhi’s middle order.

Anukul Roy: 2/31 (4 overs)
Sunil Narine: 1/17 (4 overs) – Incredibly economical.
Kartik Tyagi: 2/25 (4 overs)
Varun Chakaravarthy: 0/28 (4 overs)

Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals:

Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy.

The Outlook

The target of 143 is lower than the season average at this venue, but the “weary” nature of the pitch suggests that KKR will need to be cautious. With Finn Allen (Impact Sub) and Cameron Green in the mix, KKR starts as favorites, but DC’s bowling attack, featuring Starc and Axar, won’t make it easy.

Key Moment: The collapse from 74/1 to 89/5 in just three overs was the turning point that allowed KKR to take total control of the match.

Can Delhi’s bowlers pull off a miracle at home, or will KKR continue their 3-match winning streak? Stay tuned for the second innings!