Rajasthan Royals bottled up a chance to keep one of their foot in the IPL 2026 playoffs after losing to Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, May 17. RR's underwhelming end to their 193/8 in the first innings was compounded by the fielding errors they made as DC chased down the target in the final over.
Captain Riyan Parag was disappointed with the team's fielding as he opined that they don't deserve to be in 'contention for the top four' if they play like this. "I feel if you want to win a trophy, if you want to be contending every single year, you've got to be better than what we've done today," Parag said at the post-match presentation. "Extremely disappointed. I feel we are a way better team than what we've played or shown in the last four-five games.
"But after coming from a break, I feel what we've shown today, energy-wise, skill-wise, execution-wise, is definitely not up to the mark. And if we keep on playing like this, we shouldn't be in contention for the top four."
RR's fielding errors that cost them big
RR made some errors that went on to decide the game. Yash Raj Punja dropped KL Rahul when he was on zero, and the DC opener went on to make 56 from 42 balls. There were also a couple of misfields from the RR players.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi missed an easy ball at the fence, which went away for four, while Parag himself misfielded one, which let the DC players take three on one ball. RR head coach Kumar Sangakkara was seen fuming from the dugout after seeing the errors.
Did Donovan Ferreira's over cost RR?
RR were still ahead in the second innings as DC needed 35 runs from 18 balls. Axar Patel was set, but DC had lost Tristan Stubbs, and David Miller was new to the crease. With two left-handers, Parag turned to off-spinner Ferreira, who was hit for 16 runs with both Axar and Miller hitting him for a six as the game shifted its momentum.
However, Parag defended the move, stating it wasn't a gamble. "[Bowling] Ferreira [at the time] wasn't a gamble. I know on TV it looks like a gamble, but then you've got two left-handers [at the crease]. I'd rather bowl Donovan, [and] take a chance, than get Shanaka to bowl another over," he said.
RR bottle up golden playoff boost
RR had a golden chance to nail their contention for a playoff spot. They could have got to 18 points if they had won all three of their matches. A win over DC would have taken them to the fourth spot; however, the loss has kept them in fifth with 12 points from 12 matches, leaving them in a precarious spot where others can go past them.
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