Delhi Capitals did not just lose on Monday night. They were humiliated. Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar combined to reduce DC to 8 for 6 inside three overs, setting in motion one of the most extraordinary collapses in IPL history. Royal Challengers Bengaluru knocked off the target of 76 in 6.3 overs, winning by nine wickets with 81 balls to spare to close the gap on Punjab Kings at the top of the table to just one point.
DC’s powerplay score of 13 was the lowest ever recorded in a full IPL game. They were, at one point, in genuine danger of being dismissed for the lowest total in the league’s history. Lower-order contributions eventually dragged them to 75, but the damage was done long before the innings ended.
The Over That Broke Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Opposition
The surface offered swing and bounce, and Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood exploited it with surgical precision. Bhuvneshwar yorked IPL debutant Sahil Parakh for a two-ball duck in the first over, hitting the outside edge with an outswinger before knocking out the middle stump with an inswinger next ball. Hazlewood then removed KL Rahul with a perfectly pitched delivery that produced a top edge to the keeper, and had Sameer Rizvi caught behind for a golden duck with the very next ball. Tristan Stubbs denied him a hat-trick but edged Bhuvneshwar behind in the following over. When Axar Patel also nicked off, DC were 7 for 5 in the third over.
The sixth wicket fell at 8 when Hazlewood dug a snorter into Nitish Rana’s armpit from around the wicket and had him fending to Padikkal at short leg. Even the RCB players could not quite believe what was happening. Tim David covered his face in disbelief from the dugout.
Bhuvneshwar finished with 3 for 5 from three overs. Hazlewood took 4 for 12. Between them, they bowled one of the most devastating powerplay spells in the competition’s history.
Abhishek Porel, brought in as an impact player after the fifth wicket fell, and David Miller put on 35 for the seventh wicket to give DC some respectability. Porel top-scored with 30 off 33 balls and was the only DC batter to pass 20. Kyle Jamieson hit the game’s first six before falling for 12, and Miller made 19 off 18 before a short ball from Rasikh Dar drew a top edge. Hazlewood had the final word, yorking Porel to end the innings at 75.
RCB’s chase was a formality. Jacob Bethell made 20 off 11 before being caught at mid-on, and Devdutt Padikkal raced to 22 off eight balls. The moment of the chase belonged to Virat Kohli, who finished the contest with back-to-back sixes off T Natarajan and, in doing so, became the first player in IPL history to reach 9000 runs in the competition.
For DC, it is a night to forget as quickly as possible. For RCB, it is a statement that their title defence remains very much alive.
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