It was class bowling in last six overs, as 'youngster' Starc did well: DC skipper Axar

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel lauded his bowlers, particularly “youngster” Mitchell Starc, for helping the team fight back in the last six overs and score an important five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL match here on Sunda.

It was class bowling in last six overs, as 'youngster' Starc did well: DC skipper Axar

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel lauded his bowlers, particularly “youngster” Mitchell Starc, for helping the team fight back in the last six overs and score an important five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL match here on Sunday.

The win swelled DC’s tally to 12 points from 13 matches with a game in hand, but it also gave them an outside chance to enter the playoffs if they win their final fixture next Sunday, provided some other results go their way.

“We bowled really well in the middle overs to make a comeback. The last six overs, it was class bowling. The bowling unit refused to give up. Our 'youngster' (Starc) did that for us today,” Axar said in the post-match presentation here on Sunday.

Axar also said the opening stand of 105 between KL Rahul (56) and Abhishek Porel (51) eased pressure on the middle-order batters.

“It's obviously special to win at home. One thing has improved that we used to lose wickets in clusters easily, but today we got a good opening stand which helped the other batters.” Player of the match Starc said the DC bowling unit fought back well.

“We didn't bowl too badly in the powerplay but they batted well. But we brought things back later and KL batted fantastically, and to finish at home with a win is always nice. Adjusting as quickly as you can is key because boundaries aren't too big here,” said the pacer.

Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag said his side did not capitalise on a very good platform after the 14th over. The RR had scored over 150 runs at that stage.

“We were in a pretty good space after 14 overs. Once I got out we didn't capitalise and should have got around 210. Our bowling, we weren't up to the mark.” Parag was candid enough to concede that it’s RR’s own fault to find themselves in a tight space in the road to IPL playoffs.

“If you want to win a trophy, you have to compete in every game. We're a way better team than we showed in the last 4-5 games. Coming from a break, skillwise, energywise, executionwise we weren't there and if we play like this, we shouldn't be in the top four.

“We had the opportunity, we didn't take it. If we don't qualify, it's our fault, nobody else’s,” he added.

DC batter Rahul was delighted after going past the 500-run mark in IPL 2026, but said he was yet to fully decode the format.

“This one feels a little more special because I’ve scored 500 runs in previous seasons too, but this year I set out to achieve something else, which was to improve my strike-rate and keep up with the modern demands of T20 cricket.

“So yeah, I’m quite pleased that I could do that. But I don't think I have completely cracked it as this sport demands more. Very clear message from the coach and the captain that they wanted me to play with a certain SR,” he said.

However, Rahul admitted that it would have been better if DC managed to register a couple of more wins.

“If we had a few more wins, it would’ve felt even more special. We still have an outside chance, so we’re hoping to win the next game and maybe some other teams can help us out as well,” he added. PTI UNG AM AM

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