Gujarat win last-ball thriller as Miller’s gamble backfires

Gujarat Titans edged Delhi Capitals by one run in a humdinger finish in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, which will be replayed in the minds of everyone inside the Arun Jaitley Stadium for a long time to come. David Miller very nearly pulled off the impossible, but the run-out of Kuldeep Yadav on the last ball led to one of the great IPL finishes going in GT’s favour, as they got their first win of IPL 2026.

Miller had been extraordinary. Arriving at the crease with Delhi still some distance from the target, he retired hurt on 12 due to an injured left hand. When he came back, boundaries came in clusters off his bat.

Miller ended up at 41 not out off 20 balls in the end, and yet it wasn’t enough to give Delhi Capitals a win, as they ended up at 209/8.

The pivotal moment came with two runs needed off two balls: Miller turned down a single off the penultimate ball, gambling on finishing it himself rather than trusting Kuldeep with the equation. Prasidh, with nerves of steel, denied him the winning finish with a short, slower ball, as Kuldeep was run out by a sharp throw from Jos Buttler, leaving Miller and DC heartbroken.

KL Rahul had given Delhi every reason to believe with a fluent 92 off 52 balls, laced with 11 fours and four sixes. But Rashid Khan had done the bulk of the damage with the ball to keep GT in the game, and eventually won the match at the end in a dramatic fashion.

DC’s pursuit of 211 began on a bright note – Pathum Nissanka smashed three fours off Mohammed Siraj in the opening over. All of his drives and loft down the ground were timed with an unhurried elegance that has defined Nissanka.

Rahul got going with a pick-up flick over wide mid-on off Kagiso Rabada for four, before easily clearing mid-off against Siraj and then effortlessly dispatched the South African pacer over long leg for six. Rahul was beginning to look like himself. Rashid Khan’s introduction brought some control, but the last over of the powerplay belonged entirely to Nissanka.

Against a pacy Ashok Sharma, Nissanka carted him for three fours and a six, including a stunning inside-out drive over cover off the slower ball and a flat, imperious maximum over mid-off, as 23 runs came off it for DC to close the power-play at 63/0.

Though Prasidh Krishna had Nissanka holing out to mid-off for 41, Rahul shifted the gears entirely against his Karnataka state-mate — a nonchalant loft over the bowler’s head was followed by another maximum launched over long-off.

On either side, a pull hammered past square leg and a cut behind point helped Rahul bring up a magnificent fifty off 29 balls. But he was forced to see Rashid making twin strikes in the tenth over -- Nitish Rana was given lbw attempting a reverse-sweep off Rashid’s googly — only for the review to bail him out.

But the reprieve lasted barely a ball, as Rana holed out to long-off. If that wasn’t enough, the in-form Sameer Rizvi was castled for a golden duck via Rashid’s googly, giving the leg-spinner his 1000th wicket across formats. Rahul, though, kept going by lofting Washington Sundar for six, before thumping Krishna over extra cover for four.

With Miller retiring hurt due to hurting his left hand while diving to complete a run in the 12th over, Rashid struck again when he had Axar Patel slicing his googly to extra cover, who ran back to complete a superb catch. But Rahul continued to get runs for DC — hitting through the line to take a four off Rabada, while swivelling a slower ball from Ashok for another boundary.

Luck began turning in DC’s favour – an overthrow from Shubman Gill gave them four extra runs, while Sai Sudharsan couldn’t make a stop at long-on, giving Rahul another boundary in a 16-run 16th over. But that didn’t last long as Tristan Stubbs was run out by a direct hit from Sudharsan at mid-on, while Rahul, after lofting Siraj over mid-on, nicked behind a wide delivery to fall eight runs short of his century.

With 36 runs needed off 12 balls, a returning Miller pulled Siraj over wide long-on for six, before thumping him for another maximum through extra cover. The crowd truly came alive when Miller brought out the no-look six and sent the ball over long-on for six, while Nigam ramped Siraj over the keeper’s head for four.

After a 23-run 19th over and GT being penalised for slow over rate in the final over, Nigam lofted Prasidh over long-off for four, before holing out on the next ball. Miller, though, whacked Prasidh over long-off for six, before refusing a single on the fifth ball. With two runs needed off the last ball, Kuldeep was run out by an underarm throw from Buttler.

Agencies