Delhi Capitals Remain Unbeaten with Commanding 6-Wicket Victory Over RCB
Delhi Capitals kept their perfect beginning to the TATA IPL season going with a comprehensive 6-wicket triumph against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, taking them to four victories in as many games their greatest possible beginning to any season. Led by a magnificent unbeaten 93 by KL Rahul and a good finishing effort by Tristan Stubbs, DC overhauled the 164 target with 13 deliveries to spare at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Pursuing 164, Delhi Capitals suffered early jolts as Royal Challengers Bengaluru opened with fire. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the early wicket, sending Prithvi Shaw back, while Yash Dayal sent Jake Fraser-McGurk back due to a breathtaking diving catch by wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma. Sharma later did the same, pocketing another stunner off Bhuvneshwar's bowling to send Abishek Porel back. DC were in early trouble at 39/3 within the powerplay.
The pressure from RCB's tight bowling and exciting fielding persisted, and Suyash Sharma's astute leg-spin delivered another hit, dismissing skipper Axar Patel for 15 and leaving Delhi struggling at 66/4 midway through the pursuit. But KL Rahul, serene and measured, built the innings with maturity. With the help of Tristan Stubbs, the two forged a match-winning partnership.
Rahul, who was well set, completed his second successive fifty. With rain looming and DC slightly behind the DLS par score, he shifted gears, smashing 22 runs off a single over from Josh Hazlewood to tilt the momentum in Delhi’s favour. Stubbs played the perfect foil, rotating strike and hitting timely boundaries to keep the chase on course. Rahul completed the match in style with a towering six, not out on a match-winning 93* off 53 balls, while Stubbs remained not out on 38 off 23.
Earlier, after being asked to bat, RCB got off to a fiery start courtesy of Phil Salt. The English opening bat lost control in the powerplay, particularly during the third over when he dispatched Mitchell Starc to cleaners for 30 runs the largest over in the match. Salt's firecracker action accelerated RCB to their second-fastest IPL fifty. However, the batting shifted gears almost instantaneously following a miscommunication between Salt and Kohli leading to Salt being run out after scoring a swashbuckling 37 from 17 deliveries.
Delhi fought back expertly with the ball. Mukesh Kumar bowled a superb wicket-maiden, getting rid of Devdutt Padikkal to take the powerplay to 64/2. Vipraj Nigam followed up, getting rid of Kohli for 22, with Starc taking a diving catch at long-off. Mohit Sharma outwitted Liam Livingstone, and Kuldeep Yadav spun a tight web on the middle order, getting Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma in a superb spell of 2/17. Vipraj put further pressure by taking out Krunal Pandya and ended with brilliant figures of 2/18.
With bat and ball in tune, Delhi Capitals exhibited all-round supremacy to post a memorable victory. The dominating win not only maintained their unbeaten run but also reinforced their title aspirations early in the competition.
