Live report - Starc five-for, du Plessis fifty takes DC to second win

Deposits a slot ball from Wiaan Mulder over deep midwicket as DC win by seven wickets with plenty to spare. Porel's lone act of the day could've so easily been just the drop catch that reprieved Aniket Verma early, but he's shown a lot of belief in his hitting abilities to make a polished unbeaten 34 not out as DC make it two in two.

He started with a streaky boundary first ball, off a thick inside edge to fine leg. But the two hits that follow are signature KL - what a start to life at a new franchise. He uses the depth of the crease and get under the full length delivery and muscles his second delivery for six, and lofts his third through the line for four.

Rahul is a victim to his own hyper aggression though. Goes too far across to sweeep Ansari but has been bowled around his legs. Third wicket for the young man. DC 115/3 in the 12th.

In his first over, Zeeshan Ansari struggled to land them properly. But he's rewarded as soon as he goes to his stockball - a tossed up leg break on the stumps, Faf looks to go down town but drags to long-on, where Mulder is superb in anticipating the catch. Covers nearly 20 yards in from the ropes and puts in a dive to take it. An 81-run opening stand has been broken in the 10th over.

Eventful over as JFM gets going, before chipping one straight back at him.

Strong end to the power play. DC 66/0.

Faf du Plessis is expertly reading Pat Cummins' change of pace. A sensational lofted hit over cover for four is followed by a ramrod straight hit off a slower and fuller delivery.

Fraser-McGurk is yet to come to grips with the change in pace and has played and missed plenty.

Off the last ball of the 4th, SRH had a half-chance when Fraser-McGurk looked to loft Pat Cummins through the line. Aniket Verma anticipated the catch and covered good ground running back, even putting his right hand out to try and grab a one-handed stunner but the ball didn't stick. In the 5th, a top-edge off Abhishek Sharma is put down by Pat Cummins running across from mid-on.

Between all this, Faf du Plessis continues to defy age as he displays those wrists and a strong bottom hand to blast runs effortlessly in the power play. DC 48/0 in five.

Jake Fraser-McGurk's method is simple: stable base, clear front-leg and swing through the line. Faf du Plessis is a lot more agricultural. This partnership has gotten DC off to a quick start; 26/0 in 2.2 overs Mohammed Shami is struggling to control late swing early on, so he's now trying to hit the deck harder.

His three power play wickets set SRH back early, but he's come back superbly in the death to clean up the tail to finish with a five-for.

Sends Aniket back for an incredible 41-ball 74 with his athleticism at the deep midwicket boundary. Leaps high and is airborne as he intercepts a pull shot Aniket fell he had absolutely nailed. SRH 156/8 with three overs remaining. A third wicket for Kuldeep.

Quite sensational that this burst comes on the back of Cummins' wicket. Wian Mulder has come in as an Impact Sub. Travis Head goes out.

Both to big shots that had no proper timing.

First, Abhinav Manohar looked to loft one down the ground but ended up slicing to long-off.

Then skipper Pat Cummins fails to get hold of a pull and is caught by Fraser-McGurk at deep midwicket.

Klaasen was equally counter-attacking in his 77-run stand with Aniket Verma, but falls to an outstanding catch. Vipraj Nigam runs back almost instinctively as Klaasen slices a lofted hit off Mohit, and then twists and turns to set himself under the ball before putting in a neat little slide to grab it. Massive wicket as SRH were beginning to run away with it. SRH 114/5 in 10.5 overs.

The highlight of Klaasen's knock was in his clarity and picking of lengths. Third ball, he whipped Starc for six over deep square. Fourth ball, he blasted him through extra cover. The rest of his knock was as enterprising as the start, could've really cashed in had he stayed till the end.

Aniket Verma, 23, has been one of many beneficiaries from state-run T20 Leagues. He hit 273 runs in six innings, including a 32-ball century.

In all, his tally of runs and sixes (25) were the highest - better than many accomplished state seniors like Rajat Patidar and Venkatesh Iyer. It earned him a trial with the Sunrisers, who were impressed with his big-hitting and picked him at base price at the mega auction.

Aniket’s initiation into senior cricket was unmemorable, as he was dismissed for a duck. That was his only opportunity to play for MP in a SMAT season where they made the final.

Aniket welcomes Axar in his second over by hitting him for back-to-back sixes. The first one's deposited deep into the stands at deep square leg. The direct consequence of that is an overcorrection from Axar, as he gets tonked into the sight screen.

Eight balls into his innings, 23-year-old Aniket had already been reprieved twice.

In the 4th over, Aniket survived a run out chance when Tristan Stubbs missed a direct hit at the striker's end from point.

In the 6th, Aniket is dropped by Abishek Porel off a leading edge in trying to nudge Axar Patel into the leg side. Porel, a wicketkeeper, circled around twice to try and get under the ball as he ran back from cover, but got himself into an awkward tangle as the ball burst through his hands.

How costly will this prove to be?

Full marks to Axar Patel for giving Starc a third straight over, and he strikes with his very first ball. The loss of three quick wickets didn't dissuade Head from playing his shots, and an attempted ramp over third man leads him to a thin edge that's pouched by KL Rahul. Starc now has three wickets in two overs. SRH in deep trouble at 37 for 4.

It's also a second straight dismissal in the IPL for Head against Starc. The last time it happened: in the playoffs last year.

If Kishan's wicket was big, Nitish's is an absolute bonus. Excellent change of pace as he bowls an off-cutter on a length, Nitish attempts an uncharacteristic heave and ends up hitting it off the toe end to mid-on. The local boy doesn't last long to tantalise the crowd.

Aniket Verma, another rising star from MP's stables, comes in to avert a crisis, and he's up and away with a neat little flick off the pads over square leg.

Ishan Kishan started the season with a swashbuckling century at home in Hyderabad, but has missed out in his next two innings. He was strangled down leg in the previous game against Lucknow Super Giants. Today, he has slashed Mitchell Starc straight down third man's throat for just 2 off 4 deliveries as SRH are 20/2.

In comes Nitish Reddy at No. 4, a lot earlier than he would've expected.

It wasn't really a mix-up, because neither Head nor Abhishek refused the possibility of a single. But in starting late and then ambling across from the non-striker's end, it almost seemed as if Abhishek Sharma expected Vipraj Nigam at point to have a shy and miss the stumps at the striker's end. He didn't. An absolute waste of a wicket in the very first over for Sunrisers.

Before the run out, Travis Head was up and running with back-to-back fours. When Mitchell Starc went length, he was driven through the line. When he went full, Head went down the ground. Starc responded by going around the wicket and digging it into his rib-cage.

It’s already brewing to be a contest within a contest.

A 25-year-old legspinner, Zeeshan Ansari comes from Uttar Pradesh and has only played 1 T20 for his state, nearly six years ago. He was part of the India Under-19 batch of 2016, alongside the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan and Khaleel Ahmed.

Ansari was one of the most impressive bowlers at the UP T20 League last year, alongside Vipraj Nigam. Playing for the Meerut Mavericks, he was the highest wicket-taker in the season. His 24 wickets in 12 innings came at an average of 13.25 and economy of 7.60.

Sunrisers Hyderabad were keen win both him and Vipraj Nigam. Once they saw Nigam go to DC, they quickly swooped in to sign Ansari.

SRH base their decision on the weather. It is hot right now, so they bat. The evening is expected to get cooler, bringing bowlers into play more. That is when they will have the ball in hand. Pat Cummins also alluded to their trend last season - of batting first, putting up a big total and defending it.

Axar Patel is also aware of the ball doing more in the evening but is not too fussed about bowling first. He reveals a snippet of their bowling plans - that the bowlers could go for yorkers and resort to death bowling early in their innings.

SRH XI: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Zeeshan Ansari
Impact Player options: Sachin Baby, Eshan Malinga, Simarjeet Singh, Adam Zampa, Wiaan Mulder

DC XI: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Abishek Porel, 4 KL Rahul (wk), 5 Axar Patel (capt), 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Vipraj Nigam, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Mukesh Kumar
Impact Player options: Karun Nair, Ashutosh Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurna Vijay

The return of KL Rahul. It is a new team for the former LSG captain. And he had to miss DC’s opening contest for the birth of his daughter. His return means that there is an intrigue - around his batting position and role in the order:

With SRH in action, there is always spotlight on Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. Head has started off explosively in IPL 2025. He scored a 31-ball 67 in SRH's tournament opener against Rajasthan Royals and followed it up with a 28-ball 47 against LSG. We have been trying to decode what is the best ball to get him out. We did it last year, and this time, we racked Varun Aaron's brains to find out.

But DC have with them what could be Head's kryptonite - Mitchell Starc. Head vs Starc numbers in all recognised cricket read as follows: 7 innings, 8 runs, 5 dismissals in 29 balls, 0 boundaries