IPL 2026: Delhi Capitals blown away by Finn Allen’s storm, Kolkata Knight Riders’ playoff hopes come alive

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have turned around their fortunes in IPL 2026. With four consecutive wins, this team captained by Ajinkya Rahane has made a tremendous comeback in the points table. In the match played at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Friday night, KKR defeated Delhi Capitals by 8 wickets. The biggest hero of this victory was New Zealand’s aggressive batsman Finn Allen, who destroyed the Delhi bowlers by scoring an unbeaten century in just 47 balls.

Finn Allen’s ‘Powerplay’ blast: Scored his first IPL century in 47 balls.

Kolkata had an aggressive start to chase the target. Finn Allen, who was struggling in the initial matches, changed his attitude against Delhi and hit sixes all around the field. Allen hit 10 skyscraper sixes and 5 fours in his innings. He formed a strong partnership with Cameron Green and took KKR to the brink of victory. This century of Allen is not only a sign of his return to form, but has also become the biggest weapon for KKR in its path to the playoffs.

Spinners’ trap: Narine and Chakraborty restricted Delhi to 142

Earlier, the Delhi Capitals team, which came to bat first after losing the toss, looked helpless in front of the KKR spinners. The trio of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakraborty and Anukul Roy broke the back of Delhi’s middle order. Delhi team could score only 142 runs after losing 8 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane praised the bowlers and said that their spinners took advantage of the conditions well, which made it easy to chase the target.

Playoff equation: Will KKR make it?

With this win, KKR is now 10 points in 11 matches Have become. Although the team is still at seventh place in the points table, its playoff hopes are not completely lost. KKR will now have to win all three remaining matches to reach the magical figure of 16 points. Apart from this, the team will also have to improve its Net Run Rate (NRR), in which this stormy innings of Finn Allen has helped a lot. Now the next match of KKR will make the race for playoffs more exciting.