David Miller smashed two powerful sixes during a nail-biting final over to guide Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Saturday’s IPL encounter. Delhi Capitals displayed excellent bowling discipline, limiting RCB to 175 for 8. Chasing 176, the away team reached their target with just one delivery remaining. KL Rahul (57) and Tristan Stubbs (60 not out) provided crucial batting performances for DC, though it was Miller’s (22*) pair of massive hits that clinched victory for his side. RCB fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivered an outstanding spell, finishing with impressive figures of 3/26 from his four-over quota. After being put in to bat, RCB received excellent service from English opener Phil Salt, who led the home team’s scoring with a brilliant 38-ball 63. KL Rahul, Stubbs, and DC bowling unit defeat RCB at their home venue .
TOSS
Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to bowl first.
PLAYING XI
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI):
Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul(w), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel(c), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Auqib Nabi Dar, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI):
Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU
DC maintained impressive bowling discipline during various periods of RCB’s innings. While Auqib Nabi leaked a few boundaries in the opening over, early indicators suggested the pitch wouldn’t offer easy runs. The surface became increasingly challenging as the innings developed. Despite RCB managing just 34 runs in the initial four overs, Salt launched an assault on Nabi, crushing him for multiple fours and a maximum. Ngidi’s introduction in the Powerplay’s closing over immediately brought rewards with Virat Kohli’s dismissal, but Salt maintained his aggressive approach, finding boundaries consistently. Although both sides enjoyed productive spells, RCB still accumulated 99 runs during the first ten overs.
The visiting team dominated this phase comprehensively. Following the 13th over, RCB appeared comfortable at 132/4. Tim David and Jitesh Sharma occupied the crease with Romario Shepherd and Krunal Pandya still available. Nevertheless, Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar produced exceptional consecutive overs, building pressure on Jitesh through several dot deliveries. This forced David to decline a single in the 16th over while attempting to take control. However, Axar anticipated David’s plan to target him and cleverly bowled wide, slow, and short to deceive David, who mistimed his shot and was caught.
This dismissal triggered a collapse for RCB as Kuldeep Yadav compounded their troubles by trapping Shepherd clearly in front during the following over. During the death overs, only one boundary and one six were struck, both occurring in the 18th over. T Natarajan followed with an exceptional 19th over, consistently fooling Krunal with his variations, before Lungi Ngidi completed the innings stylishly by allowing just six runs in the final over.
DELHI CAPITALS
Their chase suffered an early setback when Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck quickly with a sharp inswinger that trapped Pathum Nissanka LBW – though this was overturned upon review. DC surprised everyone by introducing Karun Nair as their impact substitute, but his innings ended swiftly when Phil Salt executed another excellent catch. The same bowler struck again two deliveries later, dismissing Sameer Rizvi as Jitesh Sharma completed a sharp diving catch behind the wickets. At 18/3, DC faced serious trouble, but Rahul spearheaded a revival, attacking Josh Hazlewood with a six followed by two boundaries, pushing the team to 50 by the Powerplay’s conclusion.
Krunal remained dangerous and claimed the important wicket of Rahul at a vital moment after the opener had crossed fifty. Before his departure, Rahul had targeted Suyash Sharma for several boundaries before falling while attempting similar aggression against Krunal.
After scoring 80 runs during the middle overs while losing only Rahul, DC held complete command. However, Axar’s cramping issues forced him to retire hurt temporarily, providing RCB an opportunity. With newcomer Miller at the crease, RCB managed some restrictive death overs through Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar’s tight bowling. A crucial six off Bhuvneshwar’s final over arrived at the perfect moment for DC as pressure intensified, but they still required 25 runs from the remaining 12 balls. Stubbs, now past fifty, punished Rasikh Dar’s errant delivery for a boundary, though the bowler recovered well to contain both South African batsmen.
The final over situation forced Rajat Patidar to use Shepherd for the first time, bowling the decisive over while defending 15 runs. All previous good work was undone by the West Indian, who couldn’t find the correct length, allowing Miller to capitalize fully with consecutive strikes of 6, 6, 4 to complete the victory with one ball remaining.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 175/8 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 63; Axar Patel 2-18, Kuldeep Yadav 2-32) lost to Delhi Capitals 179/4 in 19.5 overs (Tristan Stubbs 60*, KL Rahul 57, David Miller 22*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/26) by six wickets.
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