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In match no.62, between the Delhi Capitals (DC) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR), DC did a double over the Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi. They kept their hopes alive and have made it tough for the RR. After this loss, it is a do-or-die scenario for Riyan Parag and his boys.
Rajasthan Royals, before coming to this game, need two wins from their three remaining games. DC won the game by 5 wickets in the final over of the game. Riyan Parag will be very upset with the way things have gone tonight for him and the side, with him having poor fielding and a dropped catch.
RR qualification scenario explained
RR, before this match, had the best chance to qualify for the playoffs, but now they have to win their remaining games in order to qualify for the playoffs; any slip-ups will lead them to a possible elimination for the Men in Pink. If RR wins two games, they qualify without keeping an eye on anyone.
However, if they win 1 more match, they will finish with 14 points. Historically, teams with 14 points can qualify for the 4th spot, but it is entirely dependent on whether other mid-table teams (CSK, DC, and KKR) are losing the rest of the fixtures.
If the side loses all matches, it will end their campaign, as 12 points have never been enough to qualify in the 10-team era. PBKS, who are in fourth place already, have 13 points. RR plays two of the bottom-placed teams, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Mumbai Indians (MI), in their final game.
RR batters could not capitalise on the start
DC won the toss and invited RR to bat first. Axar Patel’s team made one change, with Tripurana Vijay making his debut. On the other side, Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag returned, while Ravindra Jadeja was absent due to workload management, and Ravi Singh made his debut for the Rajasthan.
The Royals were off to a great start with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, as the former could not convert his start to a big score and was back for 12 runs. Sooryavanshi missed out on a fifty, but was back scoring 46 runs off 16 deliveries.
Ashutosh Sharma does the finishing job
Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag scored half-centuries respectively, scoring 53 runs and 51 runs. RR, who got a brilliant start, could not convert it to the 200+ in their 20 overs, as the middle order and lower middle order failed to accelerate in the end and lost 6 wickets for the span of 41 runs in the last seven overs.
While chasing, KL Rahul and Abishek Porel stitched a 105-run partnership between them for the first wicket. Then some wickets in the middle overs pulled the game back for the Royals. But Axar Patel played a superb knock of 33 off 17 balls and was unbeaten. Ashutosh Sharma once again did the finishing job, scoring 18* off 5 balls and winning the game for the home side.
Also Read: DC qualification scenario IPL 2026: Can DC still reach playoffs after win against RR?
