Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s pace duo of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar needed just a small edge in the early stages, and it turned into something historic as Delhi Capitals were reduced to 13 for 6 inside the powerplay—marking the lowest opening-stand total in IPL history.
Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar shared the new-ball duties in the first phase, bowling three overs each. Hazlewood returned figures of 3 for 5, while Bhuvneshwar struck with 3 for 6 as Delhi’s chase collapsed before it could properly begin. Delhi were eventually bowled out for 75, which became their third-lowest team total in IPL history, and RCB wrapped up the job with 81 balls still remaining.
Hazlewood described how the match’s opening overs offered just enough to make the plan work. “Just a little bit in the surface” was all they needed, he said, explaining that the movement wasn’t constant but varied enough to create pressure. “There was a little bit there in the first six overs, which we maximised. 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.”
He also credited the rhythm he found by sticking close to Bhuvneshwar’s execution. “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.”
Although Delhi had played a high-scoring encounter in the previous game in the same city—an RCB-style run-fest of 529 runs in total between Delhi and Punjab Kings—the conditions here played very differently. Even with that context, the scale of Delhi’s collapse still surprised plenty of observers.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar highlighted the way the wicket behaved and how the bowlers targeted the key areas, especially during the powerplay. “Even I’m surprised the way the wicket played,” he said. “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.”
Delhi captain Axar Patel, meanwhile, pointed straight back to the quality on display from the RCB pacers. “They [Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood] are world-class bowlers,” he said. “They swing the ball and have done it at every ground. 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.”
