In one of the most exciting fixtures of IPL 2026, Delhi Capitals suffered a heartbreaking 1-run defeat at the hands of Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 8. Chasing 211, DC reached 209/8. The decisive moment of the match came in the last over, when David Miller refused to take a single with 2 runs needed from 2 balls, leaving lower-order batsman Kuldeep Yadav at the non-striker’s end.
KL Rahul’s brilliant inning of 92 runs had kept DC’s hopes alive. Miller, who had returned from injury retirement and scored 41* off 20 balls (which included a huge six at the start of the over), showed confidence in himself on the second last ball of the over bowled by Prasidh Krishna. He refused to take a single, so that he could finish the match himself. On the last ball, Prasidh bowled a brilliant slower short ball; Miller missed him completely. In a hurry to take a single, Jos Buttler ran out Kuldeep Yadav with a sharp underarm direct throw, sealing GT’s first win of the season.
### Gavaskar’s balanced approach
Sunil Gavaskar defended Miller’s thinking, although he also accepted the outcome of the match. Gavaskar said, “Yes, he was confident of himself that he would score the required runs to win… But considering the way Kuldeep Yadav played the ball lightly to take a single on the first ball, perhaps he should have given strike to Kuldeep.” He added that this was “easier to say after the match,” and cited Miller’s recent impressive performances and confidence that he can do so. “You can’t blame him for that… but he didn’t succeed because the ball that Prasidh Krishna bowled was really a great ball.”
Kevin Pietersen favored a ‘finisher’ mentality: Miller expected to score at least one run on the last ball — or get it over the boundary — and so decided not to put Kuldeep under pressure. “He thought… I will definitely get one run. At worst, I will get one run. At best, I will get 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 runs.”
Taking one run would have at least decided the Super Over. However, adept finishers like Miller often have confidence in themselves on such occasions, as has been seen with great players like MS Dhoni. This ploy failed due to Prasidh’s brilliant performance and Butler’s wisdom.
DC captain Axar Patel refused to blame Miller alone, saying both teams played good cricket and DC “could have played more intelligently while chasing,” especially considering the timing of the early wickets falling. Miller looked quite distressed and his captain had to console him.
This match highlighted the very close margins in T20 cricket: a decision, a brilliant slow ball and excellent fielding combined to produce a thrilling 1-run result.