What a massive turnaround we have seen in the Indian Premier League! Just two days ago on a flat Delhi track, fans witnessed a crazy high-scoring match where 265 played 264. But on Monday, the pitch right next to it acted completely differently. It felt less like a modern T20 game and more like a high-voltage, spicy session of a Test match.

Taking full advantage of the fresh, lively pitch, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) put on a bowling masterclass for the ages. Led by the evergreen Bhuvneshwar Kumar and a fiery Josh Hazlewood, RCB tore the Delhi Capitals (DC) batting line-up to pieces. At one point, Delhi was staring at absolute disaster at 8 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Although the DC lower order helped them escape the embarrassment of recording the lowest-ever score in IPL history, they could only manage a tiny total of 75 runs.

RCB chased this down like hungry lions, wrapping up the match with 9 wickets and a massive 81 balls to spare. With this absolute demolition job, RCB has now climbed up the points table, sitting just one solitary point behind the league leaders, Punjab Kings, while giving their Net Run Rate (NRR) a massive boost.

The Powerplay From Hell: How RCB Destroyed DC’s Top Order

The match started with a bang, and from the very first over, it was clear that RCB’s bowlers meant business. Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to bat, but they walked straight into a nightmare.

The demolition began with Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowling a beautiful, lethal over. Delhi had picked 18-year-old debutant Sahil Parakh over the experienced Prithvi Shaw, hoping for some young energy at the top. While team management highly regards Parakh’s talent, his first taste of the IPL lasted exactly two balls. Bhuvneshwar set him up beautifully. The first ball was a sharp outswinger that beat the edge of the bat. The very next ball was a perfect, tailing inswinger—a classic Bhuvneshwar yorker that crashed straight into Parakh’s middle stump. The teenager walked back for a two-ball duck, and the RCB celebrations began.

If Bhuvneshwar was deadly from one end, Josh Hazlewood was terrifying from the other. In the second over, Hazlewood hit the absolute perfect length—that tricky spot where a batsman can neither comfortably come forward nor rock back. His first ball to the dangerous KL Rahul extra-bounced, forcing the opening batsman into an awkward pull shot. Rahul could only top-edge it high into the night sky, and wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma took a comfortable catch.

With his tail up, Hazlewood pushed his next delivery a little wider and fuller, tempting the new batsman Sameer Rizvi. The ball moved late, took the outside edge, and went straight into the gloves of Jitesh Sharma again. Rizvi was gone for a golden duck. Hazlewood was on a hat-trick!

Tristan Stubbs managed to survive the hat-trick ball, but he could not stay for long. In the very next over, Bhuvneshwar found the edge of Stubbs’ bat, sending him back to the pavilion. RCB’s captain kept the pressure sky-high by placing two attacking slips, including a wide slip position, making sure there was no escape for Delhi.

Soon after, Bhuvneshwar got the big fish, Axar Patel, finding his outside edge as well. At that moment, Delhi Capitals were reeling at an unbelievable score of 7 runs for 5 wickets in just the third over of the game.

The horror story did not stop there. Hazlewood came back around the wicket and bowled an absolute “snorter” of a bouncer to Nitish Rana. The ball rose sharply, aiming right at Rana’s armpit. Caught completely by surprise, Rana took his eyes off the ball and awkwardly fended it away. The ball popped up and landed safely in the hands of Devdutt Padikkal. Delhi Capitals had lost 6 wickets with just 8 runs on the board. The RCB players themselves could not believe what they had just pulled off; even all-rounder Tim David was seen covering his face in pure shock.

Porel Saves Delhi From Complete Historic Shame

Just when it looked like Delhi might get bowled out for under 30 runs, a sudden dust storm hit the stadium, causing a brief delay in play. This break allowed the Delhi players to catch their breath.

Delhi’s management had to use their Impact Player card immediately, bringing in young wicketkeeper-batsman Abishek Porel to stop the bleeding. Alongside South African veteran David Miller, Porel tried to steady the sinking ship. The duo put together a brave 35-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Porel showed the first sign of aggression from the home team when he pulled Rasikh Dar over the midwicket boundary for a lovely four just after the Powerplay ended.

David Miller looked comfortable for a brief period against RCB’s middle-over bowlers. Interestingly, in his massive T20 career of 565 matches, Miller was batting down at Number 8 for the very first time. However, his resistance ended when Rasikh Dar bowled a smart short ball that stopped on the surface, forcing Miller to top-edge it into the hands of the fielder. He was dismissed for 19 runs off 18 balls.

Down the order, Kyle Jamieson showed some fighting spirit. He smashed the first six of the entire match in the 11th over, launching a ball from Romario Shepherd way over the square-leg boundary. But spinner Krunal Pandya put an end to his stay in the 13th over, trapping Jamieson right in front of the stumps for a 13-ball 12.

Abishek Porel continued to fight hard at one end. He showed great discipline, facing 33 balls to score a crucial 30 runs. He was the only Delhi Capitals batsman to cross the 20-run mark. Thanks to Porel’s gritty knock, Delhi managed to cross the lowest-ever IPL total of 49 runs. fittingly, it was Josh Hazlewood who finished the innings, cleaning up Porel with a toe-crushing yorker that swung in late from around the wicket to shatter the stumps. Delhi Capitals were bowled out for a meager 75 runs in 16.3 overs.

King Kohli Creates History Amid Smooth Chase

Chasing a target of 76 runs was never going to trouble this confident RCB batting unit. Even though regular opener Phil Salt was missing from the lineup due to an ongoing injury, young English talent Jacob Bethell kept his spot in the playing XI and made full use of the opportunity.

Bethell opened the innings aggressively, smashing a quickfire 20 runs off just 11 deliveries. His entertaining cameo came to an end when Kyle Jamieson got him caught out via a brilliant running catch by T Natarajan, who sprinted backward from mid-on to grab a thriller.

On the other end, Devdutt Padikkal looked in sublime touch. He attacked the Delhi bowlers right from the word go, racing to 22 runs off his first 8 balls. By the time the 6-over Powerplay ended, RCB had already reached a massive 65 runs for the loss of just 1 wicket, reducing the run chase to a mere formality.

Then stepped up the man the entire stadium was waiting to see: Virat Kohli. With RCB just a few hits away from a historic victory, Kohli decided to finish things in grand style. In the 7th over of the chase, he smashed left-arm pacer T Natarajan for two spectacular, back-to-back sixes to seal the victory for Bengaluru.

👑 A Historic Milestone For The King

During this short and sweet unbeaten knock, Virat Kohli created cricketing history by becoming the first-ever player to cross the legendary milestone of 9,000 runs in the history of the IPL. No other batsman in the league has even touched the 8,000-run mark yet, proving once again why Kohli sits alone at the top of world cricket.

RCB finished the game comfortably at 77 for 1 in just 6.3 overs. Devdutt Padikkal remained unbeaten on a brilliant 34* off just 15 balls, while Virat Kohli stood tall at the end to guide his team home.

The Big Match Numbers: Final Match Scorecard

Delhi Capitals Innings: 75 All Out (16.3 Overs)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Innings: 77/1 (6.3 Overs)

Note: (*) denotes unfinished or unbeaten innings.

This absolute masterclass of an outing confirms that RCB’s bowling unit has found its golden rhythm at the most crucial juncture of IPL 2026. With King Kohli breaking records and the fast bowlers breathing fire, the rest of the teams in the tournament will surely be sweating!