Why David Miller denied single off the penultimate ball? An explainer on what happened in the DC vs GT IPL 2026 match in the thrilling final over.
David Miller pulled Prasidh Krishna to deep square leg off the penultimate ball of DC’s chase against Gujarat Titans — and chose not to run. The scores were not level. DC still needed 2 off 1. Kuldeep Yadav was at the non-striker’s end. Miller backed himself to finish it. He never got the chance.
Kuldeep took strike for the final delivery, pushed it to mid-on, and set off for a desperate single. Jos Buttler collected cleanly and fired a direct hit. Kuldeep was run out. Gujarat Titans won by 1 run. And the question that will follow David Miller out of Arun Jaitley Stadium tonight is simple: why did he not take the single?
Why David Miller Did Not Take Single
Why David Miller did not take single is wha’s a heated discussion right now. Here is what happened.
Ball 19.5. DC needed 8 off 2. Prasidh Krishna bowled short of a length angling in, and Miller swivelled and pulled it to deep square leg. The ball went to the fielder in the deep. A single was there — it was not a tight single, it was a comfortable one. Kuldeep had already started walking down for the run.
But Miller sent him back. Kuldeep was halfway down the pitch when Miller waved him away. He wanted the strike for the final ball. He wanted to finish it himself.
The logic is understandable. Miller had just smashed 41 off 20 balls with a taped-up finger, including a six off Prasidh earlier in the same over that landed in the parking lot. He had hit Siraj for 23 runs in the 19th over. He was seeing the ball like a football. Why would he hand the strike to Kuldeep Yadav — a No. 11 who bats left-handed and had faced one ball all innings — when he could back himself to hit 2 off 1?
But a single would have made it 1 off 1 with Miller on strike for the final ball. Or if Kuldeep had missed and been run out attempting the second, it would have been a tie — and a Super Over. Either scenario was better than what actually happened: Kuldeep facing Prasidh with 2 needed and getting run out without the ball reaching the bat.
The cruellest part is that Miller did not even get to face the last ball. His entire comeback — walking back out with a damaged finger, smashing sixes through the pain, dragging DC to within 2 runs of victory — ended with him standing at the non-striker’s end watching Kuldeep scramble and fall short.
WATCH: Miller Turns Down The Single That Would Have Tied The Match
David Miller Numbers That Sting
DC needed 51 off the last 20 balls when Miller walked back in. He scored 29 off 10 in the final two overs. He hit three sixes. He did everything right — except take one single.
GT won by 1 run. Their first win of IPL 2026. DC’s first loss in three matches. And the moment everyone will replay is not a six or a wicket — it is the single David Miller decided he did not need.
Sunil Gavaskar Reflects on Controversial David Miller Denied Single
In the post-match presentation, Sunil Gavaskar explained what Miller might have thought.
“It is simple — he was backing himself to hit a boundary off the final ball, or at least a single [that’s why he denied the single]. We can say in hindsight that it was a blunder, but we must not forget how he batted until then,” he said.
Gavaskar also added about a similar incident from the first tied Test back in 1986 in Chennai. Ravi Shastri and Maninder Singh were batting together when India needed 2 runs to win and Shastri took a single despite knowing Maninder isn’t a great batter. The first priority was given to not lose the game, rather than to win it, something David Miller missed tonight in the DC vs GT game.
Shubman Gill mentioned that he was relieved when David Miller denied the single that would’ve seen the game tied. “Relieved, thought we had a chance [when Miller denied single to Kuldeep in final over].”
“The discussion with Prasidh was whether to bowl a yorker or a slower ball. We finally went with the slower option as the pitch was holding a bit and if he gets the slower one right, it’ll be hard to hit.”
Prasidh went on to nail the slower ball and Miller missed his swipe. Jos Buttler ran out Kuldeep who was running in from the non-striker’s end and GT had managed to sneak in a thrilling one-run win.
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