Delhi Capitals took the foot off the gas, left it dangerously late, and yet managed to defeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

The visitor made heavy work of what should have been a comfortable 176-run chase, losing momentum with uninspiring batting in the middle overs.

It boiled down to the final over, bowled by Romario Shepherd, with DC needing 15 runs. David Miller and Tristan Stubbs started with singles, leaving the boisterous home crowd in good spirits.

Miller then flipped the script in dramatic style, with clean sixes over deep midwicket and cover.

The South African, who only some days ago failed to take his team over the hump against Gujarat Titans in a similarly tight finish, turned hero this time around.

On a sticky pitch, RCB looked set to record a fifth win when fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped three wickets inside the first three overs. Local lad K.L. Rahul put DC on track with a fighting 34-ball 57 under pressure.

RCB was back on top when Virat Kohli dove to his left at long-off to dismiss Rahul.

Stubbs and captain Axar Patel (26, 19b, 3×4) moved along slowly, allowing the required rate to rise.

Axar retired hurt with a leg injury, leaving his side with 42 runs needed in 25 balls. Miller seemed in no hurry, limping to six off six balls, before an explosive finish ended DC’s two match losing streak.

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RCB took first strike under the bright afternoon sun, but barring Phil Salt (63, 38b, 4×4, 3×6), the batters failed to hit top gear.

Opener Salt kept the tempo high even as Virat Kohli (19) and Devdutt Padikkal (18) failed when trying to force the pace.

Patidar, who has been motoring along at a tremendous strike rate this season, could not provide the middle-order impetus. The skipper was smartly dragged wide by fast bowler Mukesh Kumar, leading to an edge.

The DC bowlers hit the right spots in the last seven overs, conceding only 43 runs.

Lungi Ngidi and T. Natarajan were mighty impressive in the death, choking the run flow with a mix of pinpoint yorkers and slow bouncers.

The late strangle kept RCB to a score that turned out to be less than adequate.

Published on Apr 18, 2026