A clinical bowling display, led by Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam, followed by a masterful unbeaten 93 from KL Rahul, powered Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. On a challenging pitch, RCB blazed off the blocks but were pegged back by disciplined spin bowling through the middle overs. Regular wickets stifled their momentum, and if not for Tim David’s late cameo, the hosts would have struggled to reach even the 163/7 they eventually managed after being put in to bat.
DC stumbled early in their chase, but Rahul’s elegant 93* off 53 balls, and his unbroken 111-run partnership with Tristan Stubbs for the fifth wicket, steered them home comfortably. The win marked Delhi’s first-ever 4-0 start to an IPL season, while RCB’s search for a home victory continued.
RCB's whimsical batting form continues
The innings began quietly, even though Mitchell Starc allowed five wides in the first over. However, this tranquility was short-lived as Salt launched a fierce attack in the subsequent overs. He hit a six and a four off Axar Patel, then aggressively targeted Starc, scoring two sixes and three fours in a third over that yielded 30 runs, including four leg-byes, propelling RCB to their second-fastest team fifty. Virat Kohli contributed with an elegant back-foot drive for six over cover off Axar, but the explosive opening partnership abruptly ended in the fourth over when Salt was run out after slipping while returning, having been denied a single by Kohli. The chaos settled in the final two overs of the powerplay, with Nigam conceding only two runs and Mukesh Kumar taking the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal, completing the first phase with a wicket-maiden to regain control.
Kohli attempted to restore RCB’s momentum with a stylish lofted drive, sending Nigam’s delivery over the long-on boundary. However, the legspinner had the final say, enticing Kohli into another attempt, which resulted in a mishit easily caught at long-off. Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis, returning to the team, had to exit the field after an awkward landing while trying to catch the ball. Rajat Patidar briefly uplifted the team’s spirits with a six off Axar, but the innings faced another setback when Liam Livingstone top-edged a cross-batted shot off Mohit Sharma, leaving RCB at 91/4 at the halfway point. Patidar managed to push the score past 100 with a boundary in the 12th over, but Delhi continued to apply pressure. Jitesh Sharma, who had narrowly escaped a review due to umpire’s call, was dismissed shortly after, edging a top-spinner from Kuldeep. A disciplined over from Mukesh was followed by Kuldeep striking again, this time removing Patidar, who top-edged an attempted slog, furthering RCB’s decline.
Delhi Capitals maintained their strategy of utilizing spinners during the closing overs of the match. In the 16th over, Nigam delivered an impressive performance, allowing only four runs, while Kuldeep concluded an excellent spell with figures of 2 for 17, yielding just four runs in his final over. Nigam capped off his commendable performance by dismissing Krunal Pandya and allowing merely two runs in his last over, finishing with figures of 2 for 18. Tim David finally ended the boundary drought by hitting a six off the first ball of the 19th over, bowled by Axar, marking RCB’s first boundary since the second ball of the 15th over. He followed this with a four and another six in the same over, accumulating 17 runs and igniting excitement among the crowd. David continued his assault with two sixes and a four off Mukesh in the final over, enabling RCB to surpass the 160-run mark, with a total of 36 runs scored in the last two overs.
KL Rahul makes the mark with yet another powerful innings
After concluding their innings on a high note, thanks to David, RCB made a strong comeback in the match by claiming early wickets. Du Plessis opened the batting alongside Jake Fraser-McGurk, but the international duo was unable to make a significant contribution. Bhuvneshwar Kumar began with an economical one-run over, while Yash Dayal, after conceding a boundary to Fraser-McGurk, managed to induce a leading edge from Du Plessis. Bhuvneshwar then dismissed Fraser-McGurk, who attempted to play across the line but only managed a top edge, which Jitesh caught on his second attempt. Abishek Porel and Rahul hit a few boundaries to get DC moving, with Rahul benefiting from a fortunate moment when Patidar dropped a challenging catch. However, Porel’s attempt to play across the line led to his dismissal, as Bhuvneshwar finished the powerplay with impressive figures of 2-14 from three overs. Hazlewood also bowled tightly in his first over, keeping DC under control.
Rahul managed a top-edged six off Hazlewood, while Axar hit a mistimed four off Suyash Sharma, providing DC with some crucial runs. However, the visiting team faced further difficulties when their captain Axar was dismissed in the ninth over, finding a fielder at long off and giving Suyash a wicket. An economical start from Krunal limited DC to just 66/4 after 10 overs, leaving them 25 runs behind RCB’s total at the same stage. DC began to accelerate in the 12th over, with Stubbs reverse-sweeping Krunal for a four and Rahul sweeping the spinner for a six. Rahul then targeted Livingstone, pulling a delivery for a four and hitting a straight six before a mistimed shot off Dayal resulted in a single, bringing him to a 37-ball fifty. Despite the onset of light rain, Rahul struck three fours and a six off Hazlewood, scoring 21 runs in that over and putting DC six runs ahead in the DLS calculations.
The Capitals took further control of the game when Stubbs struck a four and a six off Suyash, with 13 coming off the 16th over to bring down the equation to 30 off 24. The South African further eased it for DC with two straight fours off Bhuvneshwar to make it a run-a-ball. An authoritative pull for a six and a reverse scoop for a four off Dayal brought up the century stand, followed by five wides. Rahul finished it off in style, clearing the fine leg fence to finish the game in the 18th over, and celebrated the win by thumping his chest and highlighting the DC badge.
SCORECARD: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 163/7 in 20 overs (Tim David 37*, Phil Salt 37; Kuldeep Yadav 2-17, Vipraj Nigam 2-18) lost to Delhi Capitals 169/4 in 17.5 overs (KL Rahul 93*, Tristan Stubbs 38*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-26) by 6 wickets.
