IPL 2026: Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar star as RCB complete nine-wicket rout of listless DC

New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) Sizzling spells from Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru storm to a nine-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in a one-sided match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.

The right-arm pace duo ripped through DC’s batting order through a devastating new-ball spell, as the hosts were bundled out for just 75 before Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli hit 34 and 23 not out respectively to wrap the chase with 81 balls to spare, sealing a win that was emphatic and swift in equal measure.

Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar combined for taking six wickets inside the first four overs, producing prodigious movement and bounce after hitting the deck, which was more reminiscent of a Test match than an IPL game, and ensured DC were bowled out for the lowest score of this season.

Outside edges flew, batters were beaten repeatedly, and DC had no answers to counter Hazlewood (4-12) and Bhuvneshwar (3-5). Impact Player Abishek Porel's 30 off 33 was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal batting effort, as no other DC batter crossed 20 and fell like ninepins.

As per CricViz, DC became just the second team in IPL history to lose six wickets inside the Power-play in a non-rain curtailed game. The only previous occurrence came in IPL 2011, when Kochi Tuskers Kerala slumped to 29/6 against Deccan Chargers. Coincidentally, both of these happened on April 27.

Not many thought of mayhem coming DC's way when Bhuvneshwar Kumar's probing away-swinging delivery drew an edge off debutant Sahil Parakh, and trickled harmlessly to short third man. But on the very next ball, Bhuvneshwar struck with lethal precision - a sharp, late in-swinging yorker from over the wicket sneaked past Parakh's blade and castled him for a two-ball duck.

Hazlewood raised the tempo of carnage with two huge blows in as many deliveries. A brutal short ball cramped KL Rahul for room on the pull, and the top edge settled into Jitesh Sharma's safe gloves, while debutant Sameer Rizvi was enticed in chasing one around the off-stump, and the outside edge on an expansive drive was grabbed by the keeper.

Tristan Stubbs momentarily lifted DC’s spirits by clipping Hazlewood's hat-trick ball for four. But the reprieve was fleeting as Bhuvneshwar, relentless and unerring, found Stubbs' outside edge with another late swinging delivery and was safely pouched by first slip. He then extracted the outside edge of captain Axar Patel, with Jitesh taking another catch.

Hazlewood then completed DC's misery by producing a sharp short ball that tangled Nitish Rana, and an ugly glove-edge was caught by gully, as DC were in absolute tatters at 9/6 inside four overs. Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood became the first pair of bowlers in IPL history to each claim three wickets inside the powerplay in the same game, which underlined just how comprehensively they dismantled DC.

When the six-over phase ended, Delhi's 13/6 became the new record for the lowest powerplay score in IPL history. Abishek Porel and David Miller then offered some resistance by plundering boundaries off Rasikh Salam Dar and Romario Shepherd to stage a brief recovery.

But the brief 35-run stand off 31 balls was broken by Rasikh, as Miller, attempting to heave across the line against a pacy short ball, toe-ended to a grateful Jitesh. Amid a feeble dust storm swirling around the ground, Kyle Jamieson pulled Shepherd handsomely over mid-wicket for six to take DC to their fifty in 10.2 overs and spare them from the additional ignominy of the lowest total in IPL history.

Even as Suyash Sharma troubled Porel, Jamieson's defiance was ended by Krunal Pandya, who joined the wicket-taking party with a good length delivery that straightened after pitching on off-stump and trapped him plumb lbw. After Suyash castled Kuldeep Yadav with a ripping leg-break, Hazlewood fittingly ended DC’s misery by rattling Porel’s middle stump with a pin-perfect yorker.

RCB’s pursuit of a modest 76 began with Impact Player Jacob Bethell flicking him for four, before Virat Kohli, surrounded by the familiar chants of "Kohli, Kohli" around the ground, got off the mark by lofting Dushmantha Chameera down the ground for a wonderful boundary.

Then Bethell shifted gears with breathtaking suddenness - whacking Jamieson for a brace of sixes over mid-wicket fence, one of which was a monstrous 104m hit. Jamieson, to his credit, struck back when Bethell mistimed a loft and T Natarajan, sprinting back from mid-on, produced the catch of the evening - taking it cleanly over his shoulder and without touching the rope – to dismiss him for a dazzling 20 off 11 balls.

With RCB making the double of DC’s power-play score in three overs, Devdutt Padikkal began by lofting Chameera over long-off for six, before whipping Jamieson over the square-leg fence for another maximum. Padikkal brought up RCB’s fifty in 4.3 overs with a one-legged pulled four through mid-wicket, before carting him through fine leg for another boundary, and then produced the shot of the night – giving himself room to loft over mid-off for six.

After RCB ended the Power-play at 65/1, Kohli finished off the easy chase in style – lofting Natarajan down the ground for six, before going on the backfoot to pull over deep mid-wicket for another maximum to complete a comprehensive victory for the defending champions.

Brief scores:

Delhi Capitals 75 all out in 16.3 overs (Abishek Porel 30, David Miller 19; Josh Hazlewood 4-12, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-5) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 77/1 in 6.3 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 34 not out, Virat Kohli 23 not out; Kyle Jamieson 1-42) by nine wickets