Himmat Singh's accidental kick causes bizarre last-ball run-out in Delhi Premier League
New Delhi Tigers captain Himmat Singh accidentally kicked the ball onto the stumps to run out the batter off the last ball, tying the match at 155. Outer Delhi Warriors then won the Super Over for their first victory of DPL 2026.
Yousef Al Marzouqi
A last-ball run-out in the Delhi Premier League (DPL) on Tuesday left players and fans in disbelief. New Delhi Tigers captain Himmat Singh, frustrated after a misfield, kicked the ball in annoyance. It hit the stumps and ran out the batter, which tied the match at 155. Outer Delhi Warriors kept their composure to win the resulting Super Over.
The final ball
Chasing 156 in a rain-shortened 15-over contest, Outer Delhi Warriors needed one run from the last delivery with the score at 155/8. Laxman bowled a pinpoint yorker outside off stump, and Pratham Saluja could only squeeze it towards mid-off.
Himmat charged in to gather the ball, but it slipped off his wrists and rolled away. As Saluja ran towards the non-striker's end, Himmat, visibly annoyed by the fumble, instinctively kicked the ball. It hit the base of the stumps and dislodged the bails before the batter could complete the winning run.
The dismissal levelled the scores at 155 and sent the game to a Super Over. It was the first Super Over of DPL 2026. The match was the eighth of the tournament, played at 1:30 pm IST at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Warriors hold their nerve
Outer Delhi Warriors won the decider for their first victory of the 2026 season. They posted 20 runs in the Super Over, a target the Tigers could not overhaul.
Monu Shukla played a key role. The Warriors' chase had looked in trouble at 80/5, but he hammered 45 off only 17 deliveries to revive their hopes, and he carried that momentum into the Super Over. He was named Player of the Match.
Reflecting on the win, Shukla said:
"It feels great to register our first win of the season. We came very close in the previous match but couldn't finish the job, so the team was naturally disappointed. This victory has given us a lot of confidence, and everyone is very happy with the result."
Tigers' innings
Earlier, New Delhi Tigers posted 155/5, built on a 101-run partnership between Himmat Singh and Lakshay Thareja. Himmat blazed 61 off just 25 deliveries, while Thareja anchored the innings with an unbeaten 62 from 41 balls.
Background on the tournament
DPL 2026 is the third edition of the Delhi Premier League T20, organised by the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA). Eight teams are playing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium from 31 July to 30 August, with the final scheduled for the last day.
The league began in 2024, when East Delhi Riders beat South Delhi Superstarz in the final to win the inaugural title. West Delhi Lions, led by Nitish Rana, won the 2025 title by beating Central Delhi Kings by six wickets in the final at the same venue.
Both teams in this match are relatively recent additions. New Delhi Tigers and Outer Delhi Warriors joined as new franchises in 2025, when the league expanded to eight teams. That makes the Warriors' first win of 2026 only their second season's worth of DPL history in the making.
Kicking the ball to avoid a run-out has a precedent at international level, although the circumstances differ. In 1989, India's Mohinder Amarnath was given out for kicking the ball away to avoid being run out in a match against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad. That dismissal fell under the obstructing-the-field law, which applies to batters and requires the act to be wilful. Himmat's kick was a fielder's reaction in a different situation.
