Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood restrict DC to 162
Stubbs made an innovative 34 but DC's other batters struggled for fluency
ESPNcricinfo staff
27-Apr-2025
Delhi Capitals 162 for 8 (Rahul 41, Stubbs 34, Bhuvneshwar 3-33, Hazlewood 2-36) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood picked up five wickets between them, and Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya strangled with spin through the middle overs, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru sent Delhi Capitals in and restricted them to 162 for 8 on a two-paced pitch.
Abishek Porel struck the ball sweetly at the start to score 28 off 11 balls, and Tristan Stubbs made an innovative 34 off 18 at the finish, but DC's other batters struggled, scoring just 96 off 92 balls between them. Faf du Plessis, returning from a groin injury and playing his first game since April 10, and KL Rahul struggled for fluency in particular, scoring 22 off 26 and 41 off 39 respectively.
Given the nature of the pitch, DC may not have been aiming too high in any case, but their efforts were hamstrung by two crucial moments.
First, just when Axar Patel was beginning to look dangerous, having slogged Krunal for a six in the previous over, Hazlewood came back and bowled DC's captain in the 14th. This took some pressure off Suyash and Krunal - who may not have relished bowling to the left-handed Axar - and they finished their quotas by conceding a combined 13 runs across the 15th and 16th overs, against Rahul and a new-to-the-crease Stubbs.
Then, when Bhuvneshwar dismissed Rahul in the 17th, DC sent in Ashutosh Sharma as their Impact Player. They had named a bowler-heavy XI despite batting first, with the hope that they could bring in the extra bowler if their top order enjoyed a good day. As it happened, they were forced to bring in a batter, and he was out third ball, bowled by a legcutter from Bhuvneshwar.
Stubbs and Vipraj Nigam then provided the spark that DC had sorely lacked up to then, using the V behind the wicket smartly to collect a combined 36 runs across the 18th and 19th overs. Bhuvneshwar, though, cut short the fireworks with a superb 20th over, dismissing Stubbs and only conceding six runs (one of them off a leg-bye) despite bowling with an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle with RCB having run into an over-rate penalty.