IPL Dispatch: Axar Patel Jumps Elimination Gun; Fake Ticket-Sellers Arrested

Never judge a surface until both teams have batted on it, the saying goes. Delhi Capitals (DC) played out 51 dot balls at their home strip on Friday (May 8, 2026), with skipper Axar Patel managing a Test-like 11 runs off 22 balls. But in came impact substitute Finn Allen, and what seemed like a tacky Kotla pitch in the first innings was now placid enough for the Kiwi batter to make merry.

ALSO READ: DC Vs KKR Highlights

Such is elite sport. Form and mental make-up override conditions from time to time, and in a tournament like the Indian Premier League (IPL) where batting belief is of the essence, diffidence ceases to be permissible. DC's 11 runs from 30 balls in the middle overs (12-16) became inexcusable as a centurion Allen-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) romped past the target in 14.2 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane's men seem to have turned on a switch they didn't know existed when they were winless in their first six outings. With four victories on the bounce, the Knight Riders have risen from rock bottom to seventh in the standings. Can they do the incredible and make the playoffs somehow?

Delhi's Stray Stroke Of Luck

After registering a meagre 142-run total at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the Capitals needed something to go their way in the powerplay to make a match of it. That most definitely happened, as Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi both fell to remarkably unlucky dismissals, handing Delhi a lifeline of sorts.

In the third over, Allen drove Mitchell Starc's last delivery straight back towards the tall seamer who got a hand to it, catching Rahane well short of his ground as the ball deflected into the stumps. Moments later, new batter Raghuvanshi went for a sweep off Patel and the ball lobbed up before bizarrely rolling back onto the sticks, to the youngster's horror.

The Knight Riders went two down without doing much wrong. Thankfully for them, these misfortunes did not have a bearing on the result as Allen batted out a powerplay for the first time in his IPL career, and made it count big time.

Photo Of The Day

This picture perhaps symbolized the difference between the two teams' spin-bowling displays on Friday evening. While Allen thrashed a worryingly off-colour Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam soundly, Anukul Roy and Sunil Narine applied the brakes on the DC batting. Roy had the well-set Pathum Nissanka stumped before cleaning up Tristan Stubbs in the same over.

Stubbs, hanging on the backfoot, was squared up in response to a flatter-trajectory delivery from the left-arm spin bowling all-rounder that uprooted the off stump. The 27-year-old later plucked a blinder of a catch at deep midwicket to send back Patel and cap off a brilliant day in the field.

ChatGPT-Using Ticket Conmen Nabbed

An interstate gang that allegedly used ChatGPT and graphic design software to create fake IPL tickets and sell them to cricket fans outside Lucknow's Ekana Stadium has reportedly been busted with the arrest of four persons. PTI quoted police as saying that the accused allegedly used social media platforms to source images of original IPL tickets and then edited and redesigned them using CorelDRAW software.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Lucknow) Rallapalli Vasanth Kumar said the gang also used ChatGPT to obtain information about ticket dimensions and paper quality so the fake tickets could closely resemble original ones, the report added. The accused were identified as Srikant Borkar (30), Nutan Kumar Sahu (28), Rajendra Chaudhary (29) and Vishwajeet Sahu (22), all residents of Durg district in Chhattisgarh.

Up Next...

Akin to countless weekend trips made from the national capital, the IPL caravan moves from Delhi to Jaipur on Saturday. An inconsistent Rajasthan Royals, placed fourth with 12 points from 10 games, welcome a buoyant Gujarat Titans to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Though the Titans and Royals are level on wins and points, Shubman Gill's side is upbeat on the back of three consecutive wins. Jos Buttler’s return to runs has made Gujarat extremely dangerous at the top, but like any top-heavy team, a collapse piles pressure down the order, which is what the hosts would aim to exploit.

RR themselves are quite reliant on their top three, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (404 runs), Yashasvi Jaiswal (312) and Dhruv Jurel (290) doing the heavy lifting. The Royals will also have to find solutions of their bowling woes, especially in the middle overs.

Quote Of The Day

DC skipper Axar Patel is making a habit of being raw and real at his post-match chats with the host broadcaster. After admitting to Ravi Shastri that he "missed partner Kuldeep" during their eight-wicket defeat to Chennai Super Kings, Patel indicated to Harsha Bhogle on Friday that his team had already begun looking ahead to the next season.

Though the Capitals are still not mathematically out of playoffs contention, a beleaguered Patel pretty much seemed surrendered to the failures of the season so far. "..we'll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there's still a long journey ahead and next year will come too. So we'll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take," said Axar after the match.

Elsewhere...

While T20 is the flavour of India currently, cricket-frosty neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh have commenced a two-match Test series in Mirpur. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto's century put the Bangla Tigers in a strong position on the opening day of the first red-ball game at Shere Bangla National Stadium.

Shanto made 101 off 130 balls, including 12 fours and two sixes, to steer Bangladesh to 301 for 4 at stumps. Mominul Haque missed out his ton after being dismissed on 91. Pakistan captain Shan Masood had earlier won the toss and sent the hosts in to bat, a decision his pacers justified before Shanto and Mominul combined for a 170-run partnership for the third wicket.

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni emerged as the highest individual taxpayer from Bihar and Jharkhand in the 2025‑26 financial year, the Income Tax department has revealed. Though the former India captain is yet to take the field in IPL 2026 following a calf strain, he continues to rake in the moolah from multiple revenue streams, six years after his international retirement.