Royal Challengers Bengaluru punched out a 97-run target with 81 balls unused after their new-ball pair dismantled Delhi Capitals for just 75, DC’s third-lowest score in the IPL. The powerplay numbers told the whole story: 13 for 6, the leanest six-over total ever recorded in the tournament.
“There was a little bit there in the first six overs, which we maximised,” Josh Hazlewood said later. “I think there’s a little bit up and down, maybe a little bit of sideways, so there was enough there to work with. The ball seemed to be skidding on quickly from short of a length in particular, and probably once the ball got soft, it became more consistent.”
Hazlewood’s three overs cost just five runs and brought three wickets; Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s identical spell went for six and also produced three scalps. That left Delhi 24 for 6 at the end of the seventh. Hazlewood admitted he mainly rode shotgun: “It feels like Bhuvi and I have been pretty close to producing a really good powerplay, so yeah, I just followed his lead basically again, and what happened happened, so it was a great result.”
Rajat Patidar, leading RCB on the night, confessed the surface was harder to gauge than anyone expected. “Even I’m surprised the way the wicket played,” he said, adding later: “All credit goes to the bowlers, the way they’ve bowled, especially in the powerplay, Hazelwood and Bhuvi, I think the way they hit those areas and got that bit of swing, that was tremendous to see. I think the swing was normal, and the good thing was we got early wickets and that’s why it kept us in the driving seat.”
Only eight days earlier the same venue had produced 529 runs in a DC v Punjab run-fest; this strip behaved nothing like that one. Capitals skipper Axar Patel reckoned class, not just conditions, settled it. “They [Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood] are world-class bowlers,” he said. “If our openers or one-down batters had batted one or two more overs, it could have been a different score or a different match. Credit to them for the way they bowled.”
From an analytical angle, Hazlewood’s fuller length found just enough seam to threaten both edges, while Bhuvneshwar’s conventional swing dragged batters across the crease. With the ball softening quickly, shot-making actually became easier, underlined by RCB strolling home inside eight overs.
A chastening evening for Delhi, then, but one framed more by smart bowling than by an unplayable pitch.
