New Delhi: Sizzling spells from Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru storm to a nine-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in a one-sided Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.
Chasing just 76, after bundling out DC for 75 in 16.3 overs, RCB were never troubled, as Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli hit 34 and 23 not out respectively to wrap the chase with 81 balls to spare and seal a win that was emphatic and swift in equal measure.
The damage had been inflicted much earlier. Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar swung the new ball all around to reduce DC to 8/6 in the first four overs. From there on, DC were always playing for survival with only Abishek Porel offering resistance via 30.
With RCB getting an emphatic victory, it was a bruising defeat for DC both in terms of net run rate and morale. They now face the challenge of regrouping quickly, while RCB’s comprehensive performance leaves little doubt about their growing momentum in the tournament.
RCB’s pursuit of a modest 76 began with Impact Player Jacob Bethell flicking him for four, before Virat Kohli, surrounded by the familiar chants of “Kohli, Kohli” around the ground, got off the mark by lofting Dushmantha Chameera down the ground for a wonderful boundary.
Then Bethell shifted gears with breathtaking suddenness – whacking Jamieson for a brace of sixes over mid-wicket fence, one of which was a monstrous 104m hit. Jamieson, to his credit, struck back when Bethell mistimed a loft and T Natarajan, sprinting back from mid-on, produced the catch of the evening – taking it cleanly over his shoulder and without touching the rope – to dismiss him for a dazzling 20 off 11 balls.
With RCB making the double of DC’s power-play score in three overs, Devdutt Padikkal began by lofting Chameera over long-off for six, before whipping Jamieson over the square leg fence for another maximum. Padikkal brought up RCB’s fifty in 4.3 overs with a one-legged pulled four through mid-wicket, before carting him through fine leg for another boundary, and then produced the shot of the night – giving himself room to loft over mid-off for six.
After RCB ended power-play at 65/1, Kohli finished off the easy chase in style – lofting Natarajan down the ground for six, before going on the backfoot to pull over deep mid-wicket for another maximum to complete a comprehensive victory for the defending champions.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 75 all out in 16.3 overs (Abishek Porel 30, David Miller 19; Josh Hazlewood 4-12, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-5) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 77/1 in 6.3 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 34 not out, Virat Kohli 23 not out; Kyle Jamieson 1-42) by nine wickets
(IANS)
