David Miller might call it a small “redemption”, but for Delhi Capitals it felt like a sizeable weight lifted. Fifteen were needed off the final over against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday night, and after two quiet singles Romario Shepherd was deposited for 6, 6, 4 – job done with a ball to spare, Capitals winning by six wickets.
“It feels really good, to get one for the other night,” Miller said on the out-field. “Was disappointed a couple of games ago, but to get ourselves back in that position, feels good to get over the line. It’s always going to be there at the back of the mind until you actually win another game. I’ll take it.”
Miller’s reference was the stumble in Ahmedabad ten days earlier, when two runs were needed from two balls against Gujarat Titans and somehow weren’t found. That scar plainly lingered. Here, the left-hander arrived with 42 required from 25 after captain Axar Patel hobbled off with cramp. Tristan Stubbs was already set; the pair added an unbeaten 45 that threaded boundaries through a run of excellent yorkers.
“Batting where I did, there was a lot of stop and starts this game. It felt like you couldn’t get going, and then there was break in play a lot of times,” Miller admitted. “Mind’s got a bit scrambled, but when I walked in there, Stubbo said to me, ‘keep your intensity really high.’ For me, that helped a lot, which kicked me into a good frame of mind.
“First six balls [I faced], they bowled well, six yorkers to me and I couldn’t get going, but chuffed that it came off in the last six balls.”
Key numbers
• Capitals needed 41 from the final four overs; they managed 12, 12, 12 and 6.
• No dot balls after the 17th over – a quiet statistic that forced RCB to chase lines and lengths.
• Stubbs finished 36 not out; Miller 31* from 18, strike-rate 172.
Stubbs, handed the finishing gloves by Rishabh Pant this season, has become a calm voice. “It’s always good finishing off games with Stubbo,” Miller smiled. “He just said, ‘thanks so much, you saved me there.’ He batted unbelievably well, anchored the innings all the way through. He’s got a great technique and he’s powerful. Him being there was massive for us.”
Tactics & execution
Capitals’ plan, Miller revealed, had been to wrap things up before the last over. “We were trying to finish it in the second-to-last over, but we needed 40-odd runs [41] in the last four overs, we always knew there was one, two sixes within a six and back-to-back fours and the bowler’s always under pressure from there,” he said. “I was just trying to limit the dot balls, and when the boundary ball comes, you capitalise. It was trying to stay calm, keep communicating with the partner and take it deep as we go.”
From RCB’s standpoint the yorkers were on target, the fielders mostly in the right places; the margin came down to three balls delivered fractionally short of perfect length. Chinnaswamy may forgive but rarely forgets.
What next
The win nudges Capitals into mid-table safety for now, confidence patched up after the Ahmedabad wobble. Miller insists the memory of that Titans finish will linger longer than one clean over can erase, yet it’s a start.
“Chuffed that it came off,” he reiterated, strolling off with bat under arm. Capitals, for tonight at least, share the sentiment.
