New Delhi, Apr 28: Ardent fans in New Delhi wished for a grand Virat Kohli homecoming and a win for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). To their delight, both happened on a hot Sunday evening, though Krunal Pandya’s all-round heroics stood out, as RCB beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets to go on top of IPL 2025 points table at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

On a two-paced RCB’s bowlers, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 3-33, Josh Hazlewood’s 2-36 and a stifling act by Krunal and Suyash Sharma combining for 1-50 in eight overs, restricted DC to a below-par 162/8, the lowest first innings total here in IPL since 2024. They were in trouble at 108/4 in 15 overs, before Tristan Stubbs’ 34 off 18 balls lifted them past 160-mark.

In reply, RCB were quickly in tatters at 26/3. But Krunal stepped up to shake off his early rustiness and smashed a brilliant 73 off 47 balls, laced with five fours and four sixes. He was well-supported by a 47-ball 51 from Kohli, who hit his sixth fifty of the season, as the duo shared a match-winning 119-run stand for the fourth wicket.

It was a partnership strategised well, where Pandya was the aggressor, while Kohli was happy being the anchor. Tim David finished off the chase with an unbeaten 21 off five balls to ensure RCB maintained its clean slate in away games and run-chases in this season.

DC had a blazing start, thanks to Abishek Porel’s quick 11-ball 28. From the word go, Porel was at his sweetest best in timing the ball – as seen from flicking Bhuvneshwar for four, before slogging for six, and a gorgeous pick-up sweep giving him another maximum.

But Hazlewood ended Porel’s blitz by having him glove the pull to the keeper on a short ball angled down leg. With Faf du Plessis struggling to find fluency, DC lost Karun Nair, who top-edged a pull on an angled across delivery from Dayal to mid-wicket. With Suyash and Krunal bowling stump to stump lines and getting some grip off the pitch, RCB managed to dry up big runs for DC.

It worked when du Plessis’s struggle ended with him holing out to long-on off Krunal. From there, KL Rahul and Axar Patel joined forces to rebuild DC’s innings. Rahul was quick to pounce on slightest of errors – using depth of crease to take a four each off Suyash and Yash Dayal on both sides of the wicket, before hocking Hazlewood over backward square leg for another boundary.

On the other hand, Axar, despite missing some balls off Suyash, scooped him for four, before lofting Krunal over mid-wicket for six. But Hazlewood gave DC a big blow by going past Axar’s swipe across the line, and knocking over his middle stump. After Axar’s fall, Suyash and Krunal bowled two more boundary-less overs, thus increasing pressure on DC.

That pressure intensified in the 17th over when Bhuvneshwar had Rahul holing out to long-off, while impact player Ashutosh Sharma was castled by a leg-cutter. Stubbs injected some momentum by scooping and lofting Hazlewood for fours, while Vipraj Nigam ramped him over third man for six in a 17-run 18th over.

Stubbs continued to amaze by drilling Dayal down the ground twice for fours, before switch-hitting him for six in the 19th over yielding. Though Bhuvneshwar took out Stubbs in the final over, the batter did manage to take DC past 160, which was always a below-par total.

Jacob Bethell gave a bright start to RCB’s chase by flicking Mitchell Starc for a six and a four on consecutive balls in the second over. But Bethell was removed by Axar Patel, as he miscued a pull to diving deep mid-wicket. Two balls later, Axar struck again by castling impact player Devdutt Padikkal, before skipper Rajat Patidar was run-out by a direct hit from Nair, leaving RCB in trouble at 26/3.

DC’s squeeze in power-play didn’t allow Kohli and Pandya to break free. But sfter the half-way mark, Kohli showed signs of aggression by pulling Kuldeep Yadav for four, before Pandya, who previously took a four off Vipraj Nigam on a no-ball, whipped Dushmantha Chameera for six.

With Kohli content in strike rotation, Pandya shrugged off his rusty self by dealing exclusively in sixes - swivelling and lofting Mukesh Kumar for consecutive maximums, before lofting Kuldeep over long-off. Pandya brought up his fifty off 38 balls by sweeping Axar’s last ball of the day for four, before being dropped on 54 by Abishek Porel at deep mid-wicket.

Kohli later brought up his sixth fifty of this season off 45 balls with a single, which also brought up the century of his game-defining stand with Pandya, who then flicked and sliced Mukesh Kumar for consecutive fours.

Though Kohli fell after lofting to long-off against Chameera, David swung Mukesh for a six and a four, including off a no-ball, before slicing and heaving on consecutive deliveries to seal a fabulous win for RCB with nine balls to spare, much to the delight of fans in the national capital.

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 162/8 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 41, Tristan Stubbs 34; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-33, Josh Hazlewood 2-36) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 165/4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73 not out, Virat Kohli 51; Axar Patel 2-19, Dushmantha Chameera 1-24) by six wickets

--IANS

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