David Miller takes Delhi Capitals to the brink of a win but messes up in the end as Gujarat Titans clinch a thriller

By any yardstick, it would have been a match-winning hit, but trust Miller to mess up from this position as well. The penultimate ball was hit to fine leg and would have been an easy single to tie the scores and ensure a Super Over, at worst. But Miller sent Kuldeep Yadav back and then failed to get bat on ball off the last delivery as Jos Buttler threw down the stumps when the batters tried to steal a bye.

It isn’t the first time Miller, who couldn’t get South Africa over the line in the 2024 T20 World Cup final, has seen such disappointment. He retired hurt due to a hand injury but returned to almost pull it off, a microcosm of his career in many respects.

Rashid turns the game

It doesn’t take much to turn a game of T20 cricket on its head. It can be just two Rashid Khan deliveries. Needing 211 for victory, Delhi Capitals had crossed 100 well inside 10 overs with nine wickets in hand when the Afghan leg-spinner decided to have his say.

Nitish Rana miscued one to diving Sai Sudharsan running in from long-off, and then Sameer Rizvi, one of the stories in the early days of the season, was bamboozled by a perfectly-pitched googly to lose his off-stump.

Gujarat Titans win during Match 14 of the TATA Indian Premier League 2026 between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans. (Photo by Deepak Malik / CREIMAS for IPL)

In a high-scoring game, a four-over spell conceding just 17 and snaring three victims is a match-winning effort and despite KL Rahul (92 in 52 balls) being his classy self, he got very little support after the 76-run opening partnership with Pathum Nissanka.

The hallmark of Rashid’s bowling is his ability to attack the stumps, which allows batters very little room to play with, so he is equally effective against both right- and left-handers. Allied with the pace at which he bowls, it becomes difficult to get underneath the ball to get distance as Rana, and later Axar Patel, found to their detriment.

Buttler shows vintage class

He hasn’t had a great time of late and there has been speculation about whether Buttler is indeed the same player that he used to be in his prime. But on Wednesday, the former England white-ball skipper showed that, at least in the IPL, he can be as destructive as any batter if the mood possesses him.

In the recent T20 World Cup, Buttler was woefully out of rhythm, reduced to ungainly hacks across the line rather than trusting his skill and experience. But against Delhi Capitals, from the moment he took a pace down the pitch to Mukesh Kumar to smash him over long-off, it was vintage Buttler. There were straight-bat shots – a lofted off-drive against Axar after making room landed just short of the boundary cushion – as well as his trademark cheekiness when he stepped across the stumps to shovel Mukesh over fine leg for a maximum.

Jos Buttler of Gujarat Titans plays a shot during Match 14 of the TATA Indian Premier League 2026 between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans. (Photo by Deepak Malik / CREIMAS for IPL)

Maybe, one should have taken Sai Sudharsan’s assessment on the eve of the game at face value. The Gujarat Titans opener had said that Buttler was the batter closest to playing a match-winning knock. The 35-year-old had got set in both their previous games without making the impact he would have liked. His side needed him to come good after two defeats to start their campaign and a 27-ball 52 gave the innings the impetus required.

Once he had the DC bowlers scrambling for answers, Buttler seemed one step ahead of them. When Mukesh tried to follow him down the legside, he was flicked to the midwicket fence and when Lungi Ngidi came up with a dipping full toss, he had the composure to wait for the ball and swat it to wide long-on. All this when he was not targeting the upper tiers of the stands with his hits in the ‘V’. Skipper Shubman Gill faced just seven balls in the Powerplay, only one after Buttler arrived in the third over, but had no reason to complain.

Player for all seasons

Gujarat Titans may have exercised the option of sending in Glenn Phillips to maintain the high run rate after Buttler’s departure, but chose Washington instead. Having a right-left combination with Gill would have been a consideration, but it required a large degree of faith in the prowess of the elegant southpaw from Tamil Nadu, and he didn’t disappoint as his 32-ball 55 took his team past 200.

Fluent against the spin of Axar and Kuldeep, he took full toll when the DC skipper made a miscalculation and brought on part-time leggie Vipraj. With whatever little spin coming into him and the bowler too apprehensive to give it any air, Sundar targeted the cow corner with impunity, as 23 came off the over.

Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 210/4 (Shubman Gill 70, Washington Sundar 55, Jos Buttler 52) beat Delhi Capitals 209/8 (KL Rahul 92, David Miller 41, Pathum Nissanka 41; Rashid Khan 3/17) by 1 run