Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) crushed Delhi Capitals (DC) by nine wickets, securing a dominant win in their IPL 2026 encounter in New Delhi on Monday. After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, RCB fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed four and three scalps respectively, bowling DC out for a mere 75 in 16.4 overs. DC posted the lowest-ever powerplay total in IPL history (13/6), though they managed to avoid the dishonor of recording the lowest IPL team score. In reply, RCB needed just 6.3 overs to reach the target of 76 . Delhi Capitals Batters Were Totally Collapsed By Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood’s Brilliance .
TOSS-
Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and elected to bowl first.
PLAYING XI –
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI):
Sahil Parakh, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel(c), Dushmantha Chameera, Kyle Jamieson, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI):
Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar
DELHI CAPITALS-
Bhuvneshwar Kumar discovered nearly three degrees of swing in his first over, welcoming debutant Sahil Parakh with a vicious inswinging yorker that demolished the middle stump. While that displayed skill, Josh Hazlewood responded with raw pace, troubling previous match’s century-maker KL Rahul with a sharp bouncer that caught the top edge.
Sameer Rizvi survived only one delivery after pursuing a fuller ball and nicking it to the keeper. Bhuvneshwar then struck again, dismissing both Tristan Stubbs and Axar Patel with edges in the same over, while Hazlewood rejoined the party by removing Nitish Rana with another short delivery.
Sitting at 8 for 6, Delhi were courting unwanted records, and although they managed to stay above RCB’s notorious 49, their 13 for 6 became the lowest powerplay total in league history.
Impact Player Abhishek Porel battled valiantly for 30 runs and was the final wicket to fall, eventually cleaned up by Hazlewood’s yorker. David Miller, positioned unusually low at No. 8, contributed 19 before mistiming a pull shot off Rasikh Dar.
A sandstorm then engulfed the Arun Jaitley Stadium, bringing additional chaos to an already tumultuous innings. RCB struggled to find consistency from Romario Shepherd, who conceded 21 runs in two overs and remained wicketless. Suyash Sharma bowled economically with figures of 1 for 7 from four overs, while Krunal Pandya recorded 1 for 9 from two.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU-
No hesitation whatsoever. Jacob Bethell established the tempo immediately, smashing two sixes in an explosive start, one traveling 104 meters into the crowd. Devdutt Padikkal then continued his excellent form, attacking Kyle Jamieson for 21 runs in a single over and keeping the chase moving at breakneck speed. Jamieson and Dushmantha Chameera had been brought in to bolster a weak pace bowling unit, but neither discovered the swing or threat that RCB’s bowlers had found earlier. Jamieson particularly struggled on his comeback, giving away 42 runs from three overs.
Padikkal smashed 34 from just 13 deliveries, while Virat Kohli finished the job with two consecutive sixes, wrapping up the chase with 81 balls remaining.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 75 in 16.3 overs [Abhishek Porel 30 (33); Josh Hazlewood 4-12, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-5] lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 77/1 in 6.3 overs [Devdutt Padikkal 34* (13), Virat Kohli 23* (15)] by 9 wickets.
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