By Prakash Nair 
New Delhi, May 5: This was not the call anyone expected. DC won the toss at the Arun Jaitley Stadium tonight, and Axar Patel chose to bat first. In a match where five of six IPL 2026 games at this very ground have been won by the chasing side. On a night when Monday’s storms have left extra moisture in the outfield. On a surface where the dew arrives heavy and early, it makes the second innings a batting paradise.
It is a bold call. It is possibly the wrong call. And by the time this evening is over, the decision made at the centre of the Kotla in the next few minutes will almost certainly be one of the defining factors in who wins Match 48.
Chennai Super Kings will bowl first. And with Anshul Kamboj the second-best bowler in the entire tournament by average this season, opening with the new ball against a DC top order that has looked brilliant in recent weeks but has also collapsed to 75 in this very stadium, the next six overs carry enormous weight.
Why DC Batted And What The Logic Might Be
Let’s give Axar Patel the benefit of the doubt for a moment, because there are conditions under which batting first tonight makes sense.
The Kotla surface, fresh after Delhi’s recent rains, may offer genuine pace and carry in the first ten overs, exactly the kind of conditions where KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka can take the attack apart before the pitch settles. DC’s top three have been the best-performing unit in their lineup this season. Rahul has already made a 152 not out and a 92 at this ground. If DC can post 200-plus in the first innings, they hand their bowlers something to defend, and on a surface that has some early life in it, Mitchell Starc and Lungi Ngidi may find more assistance than they would in a second-innings chase under dew.
That is the argument for batting first. It requires DC’s batting to fire from the first ball. It requires Rahul to be at his best. And it requires their bowlers to defend a target on a surface that, by the 12th over, will likely be offering precious little assistance to spin.
Across the last two seasons at this ground, the team batting first has a 3-2 record, even though the toss decision has been to chase in seven of the last eight games. That historical detail will be what Axar pointed to when he called for a bat. It is slim comfort, but it is not nothing.
What DC Needs From Their Batting Starting Right Now
The pressure on KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka in the powerplay tonight is immense. If they come out swinging and take Kamboj for runs in the first three overs, they change the entire complexion of CSK’s bowling plan. If Kamboj gets an early wicket as he has done repeatedly this season, DC’s middle order will be under pressure at precisely the time they need to be building.
DC’s bowlers have been poor in the powerplay all season, last in the rankings for balls-per-wicket and second-last on wickets taken. But it is DC’s batting powerplay that matters right now. Nissanka scored 62 off 33 balls in the powerplay against Rajasthan Royals four days ago. That is the version of Nissanka DC need tonight.
Nitish Rana at number three has been one of the more reliable performers in DC’s recent run. In the 14 straight IPL games before being dropped earlier in the season, his strike rate was 100 against deliveries above 140 kph, and even after returning, he still strikes at only 93 against that pace. CSK knows this. Anshul Kamboj is the second-highest-ranked Indian bowler on ESPNcricinfo’s MVP list for the season, with a bowling average of 15.82, the second-best among all bowlers who have sent down at least 20 overs. If Rana comes in with pace bowlers still operating, that match-up will be tested immediately.
Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma at four and five are DC’s firepower in the middle and death overs. Both can accelerate from ball one if the top order has done its job. Both are vulnerable if they come in cold, facing a bowling attack that has just taken two or three quick wickets through the powerplay.
The honest assessment is that this DC needs a score north of 195, ideally 210-plus, to give their bowlers a realistic chance of defending on a ground where dew turns the second innings into a chaser’s paradise from the 12th over onwards.
What CSK brings with the ball and why this is their ideal scenario
Chennai Super Kings walked out to the field first, and it is hard to escape the feeling that this is exactly what they wanted.
Kamboj opens the attack. On a fresh surface, with the ball doing something early, against a DC top order that has been brilliant but has also been brittle, he is one of the most dangerous powerplay bowlers in the entire tournament right now. His ability to take wickets in the first six overs has changed matches for CSK multiple times this season.
Noor Ahmad in the middle overs gives CSK a left-arm spinner who can tie down DC’s right-hand batters when the surface is still dry enough to offer grip. By the time the dew settles in around the 12th over, Noor’s most dangerous overs will already be done. CSK’s bowling plan essentially relies on the first twelve overs doing the bulk of their damage, and with Kamboj, Noor, and Gurjapneet Singh or Mukesh Choudhary in the attack, they have the variety to make that work.
Jamie Overton adds a different dimension, right-arm pace with the ability to bowl good death overs and take wickets with the short ball. DC’s lower middle order, which relies on Stubbs and Sharma to accelerate, will face Overton at precisely the phase of the innings where he is most effective.
The one concern for CSK’s bowling is Akeal Hosein, whose arm ball, once one of the most effective deliveries in T20 cricket against right-handers, has simply not worked this season. He has gone wicketless with it and leaked runs at 10.50 per over. If Hosein cannot find his length and his arm ball tonight, CSK’s spin department loses a significant threat in the middle overs.
What DC’s Bowlers Must Do In The Second Innings
Here is the uncomfortable reality that Axar Patel accepted when he called for a bat. Whatever total DC post, their bowlers Starc, Ngidi, Kuldeep, and Natarajan will need to defend it in conditions that become increasingly hostile to the bowling side as dew takes hold.
Starc in the powerplay is DC’s most dangerous weapon. His left-arm swing against Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson in the first six overs is where the match could be turned before it settles into a chase. CSK’s opening partnership has averaged just 22.77 this season the second-lowest in the entire league. Starc targeting that vulnerability in the early overs of CSK’s innings is DC’s most plausible path to restricting a dangerous batting lineup.
Kuldeep Yadav is the spinner DC will rely on most but he will need to take wickets in overs seven through fourteen, before the dew makes his wrist spin easier to read and harder to grip. If Kuldeep goes wicketless through the middle phase, CSK’s middle order will find the chase manageable regardless of what total DC have posted.
Five of six IPL 2026 matches at this ground have been won by the chasing team, and heavy dew from the 12th over makes defending totals significantly harder. DC’s bowlers know this. The crowd knows this. Axar Patel certainly knows this. The decision to bat first has created a situation where DC need a big total, a fast start from their bowlers, and Kuldeep to be at his very best before the dew renders him less effective.
It is a tall order. But KL Rahul is in the form of his career. Nissanka is dangerous in the powerplay. Starc can swing it both ways. And the Kotla crowd, which has seen DC post some extraordinary first-innings totals this season, will push from the first ball.
Probable Playing XIs
Delhi Capitals: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Rana, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (capt), Vipraj Nigam or Auqib Nabi, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan.
Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Urvil Patel or Sarfaraz Khan, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh or Mukesh Choudhary.
The Number That Defines Tonight
210. That is the number DC need to post if they are going to give their bowlers a realistic chance tonight. Anything below 190 and this chase, under dew, with Gaikwad in form and Samson capable of going berserk at any moment, becomes very manageable for CSK.
Everything about tonight’s second innings hinges on what happens in the next two hours with DC’s batters at the crease. The toss call has been made. The pressure is now entirely on Rahul, Nissanka, and the batting unit to justify it.
The Kotla lights are on. The Delhi crowd is in. Anshul Kamboj is marking his run-up.
And Delhi Capitals have chosen the harder path.
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- Prakash Nair
- Prakash Nair
- Prakash Nair
- Prakash Nair
