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IPL 2025: Spinners set it up, Rahul seals it as Delhi Capitals stay perfect

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12 months ago

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KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 93* as DC got home with 2.1 overs to spare. (BCCI)
A clinical bowling display, led by Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam, followed by a masterful unbeaten 93 from KL Rahul, powered Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

On a challenging pitch, RCB blazed off the blocks but were pegged back by disciplined spin bowling through the middle overs. Regular wickets stifled their momentum, and if not for Tim David’s late cameo, the hosts would have struggled to reach even the 163/7 they eventually managed after being put in to bat.

DC stumbled early in their chase, but Rahul’s elegant 93* off 53 balls, and his unbroken 111-run partnership with Tristan Stubbs for the fifth wicket, steered them home comfortably. The win marked Delhi’s first-ever 4-0 start to an IPL season, while RCB’s search for a home victory continued.

Where the game was won

In overs 4-18 when RCB were batting. After RCB raced past 50 in the first three overs, DC hit back in excellent fashion, with pace off the ball and spinners giving the ball air time on a pitch that was holding a bit and where it wasn’t easy to play across the line. The key moment was Phil Salt’s run-out after the opener had blitzed away at the start of the innings. From there on, DC didn’t allow RCB to get into a higher gear, with overs 4 to 18 yielding only 74/7 for the home side at under five an over. In contrast, a well-paced half-century from KL Rahul helped DC recover from early wickets and get back on track. RCB also failed to capitalise on an important moment as Rahul was put down by Rajat Patidar, and the Karnataka man made the hosts pay. In the middle overs (7-15), the Capitals scored 82 runs, plenty more than what RCB got.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU

Powerplay: Calm before and after Salt storm

Phase score – 64/2 [RR: 10.66, 4s/6s: 5/4]

It was a quiet start to the innings despite Mitchell Starc conceding five wides in the opening over. But that proved to be the calm before the storm, as Salt unleashed a furious onslaught in the next couple of overs. He launched a six and a four off Axar Patel, then tore into Starc with two sixes and three fours in a third over that went for 30 runs – including four leg-byes – as RCB raced to their second-fastest team fifty. Virat Kohli joined the party with a sublime back-foot drive for six over cover off Axar, but the explosive opening stand came to a sudden end in the fourth over. Salt was run out, slipping on his way back after being denied a single by Kohli. The chaos subsided in the final two overs of the powerplay as Nigam gave away just two runs and Mukesh Kumar followed by removing Devdutt Padikkal and wrapping up the first phase with a wicket-maiden to restore control.

Middle overs: Kuldeep and Co. leave RCB in shambles

Phase score – 53/4 [RR: 5.88, 4s/6s: 2/2]

Kohli looked to reignite RCB’s momentum with a graceful lofted drive, launching Nigam over the long-on fence. But the legspinner had the last word, luring Kohli into reaching out again – this time inducing a mishit that was comfortably taken at long-off. Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis, making his return to the side, had to leave the field after landing awkwardly while attempting a catch. Rajat Patidar briefly lifted spirits with a six off Axar, but the innings suffered another blow when Liam Livingstone top-edged a cross-batted swipe off Mohit Sharma, leaving RCB at 91/4 at the halfway mark. Patidar took them past the 100-run mark with a boundary in the 12th over, but Delhi continued to tighten the screws. Jitesh Sharma, who had just survived a review courtesy of umpire’s call, fell soon after – getting a leading edge to a Kuldeep top-spinner. A tidy over from Mukesh was followed by Kuldeep striking again, this time removing Patidar, who top-edged an attempted slog across the line as RCB’s slide continued.

Death overs: David’s cameo powers RCB past 160

Phase score – 46/1 [RR: 9.20, 4s/6s: 2/4]

Delhi Capitals continued to rely on their spinners deep into the death overs. Nigam kept things tight in the 16th, conceding just four runs, while Kuldeep wrapped up a superb spell with figures of 2 for 17, giving away only four in his final over. Nigam capped off an impressive outing by removing Krunal Pandya and conceding just two runs in his last over, finishing with 2 for 18. Tim David finally broke the boundary drought, launching the first ball of the 19th over, bowled by Axar, for a six. It was RCB’s first boundary since the second ball of the 15th over. David followed up with a four and another six in the same over, taking 17 off it and giving the crowd a late surge of excitement. He wasn’t done yet – two sixes and a four off Mukesh in the final over helped RCB push past 160, with 36 runs coming in the last two overs.

DELHI CAPITALS

Powerplay: Pacers give RCB a good start

Phase score – 39/3 [RR: 6.50, 4s/6s: 5/0]

Having ended their innings well thanks to David, RCB continued their comeback in the game with early wickets. Du Plessis came out to open with Jake Fraser-McGurk but the overseas pair failed to make an impact. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started with a one-run over while Yash Dayal, after being hit for a four by Fraser-McGurk, induced a leading edge off Du Plessis’ bat. Bhuvneshwar then got the wicket of Fraser-McGurk, who went across the line but only got a top-edge and Jitesh held on to the ball on the second attempt. Abishek Porel and Rahul struck a few boundaries to get DC going and the latter also got a lucky break as Patidar put down a tough chance. But looking to play across the line brought about the downfall of Porel as Bhuvneshwar ended up with figures of 2-14 from the three overs he bowled in the powerplay. Hazlewood didn’t give away too many in his first over as RCB kept DC in check.

Middle overs: Rahul fifty keeps DC on track

Phase score – 82/1 [9.11, 4s/6s: 6/4]

A top-edged six for Rahul off Hazlewood and a mistimed four for Axar off Suyash Sharma gave DC some much-needed boundaries. But the visiting team found themselves in more trouble as their captain Axar departed in the ninth over, finding the fielder at long off to give Suyash a wicket. An economical start from Krunal meant DC could only manage 66/4 in 10 overs, trailing RCB’s 10-over total by 25. DC got a move on in the 12th over as Stubbs reverse-swept Krunal for a four and Rahul swept the spinner for a six. Rahul then took on Livingstone, pulling one for a four and hitting a straight six before a mistimed shot off Dayal got him a single as he brought up a 37-ball fifty. Even as it started drizzling, Rahul struck three fours and a six off Hazlewood to get 21 in the over and take DC ahead by six runs in the DLS calculations.

Death overs: Rahul-Stubbs century stand keeps RCB winless at home

Phase score – 48/0 [RR: 16.96, 4s/6s: 4/3]

The Capitals took further control of the game when Stubbs struck a four and a six off Suyash, with 13 coming off the 16th over to bring down the equation to 30 off 24. The South African further eased it for DC with two straight fours off Bhuvneshwar to make it a run-a-ball. An authoritative pull for a six and a reverse scoop for a four off Dayal brought up the century stand, followed by five wides. Rahul finished it off in style, clearing the fine leg fence to finish the game in the 18th over, and celebrated the win by thumping his chest and highlighting the DC badge.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 163/7 in 20 overs (Tim David 37*, Phil Salt 37; Kuldeep Yadav 2-17, Vipraj Nigam 2-18) lost to Delhi Capitals 169/4 in 17.5 overs (KL Rahul 93*, Tristan Stubbs 38*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-26) by 6 wickets.

What next for the teams?

The only team unbeaten in the competition so far, the Capitals will play their first home game at the Arun Jaitley stadium when they face Mumbai Indians on April 13. On the same day, Royal Challengers – hoping for more success away from home – will play the afternoon game against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, which will also be RR’s first match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

( Cricbuzz)


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Amelia Kerr hits 139-ball 179* as New Zealand pull off record chase to level series

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8 hours ago

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2026/04/1

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Amelia Kerr ended with 179 not out off just 139 balls [Cricinfo]

It was the Amelia Kerr show at Basin Reserve on Wednesday as she played the sort of innings that would go into cricket folklore if it were played at a World Cup instead of a bilateral series, to completely hog the limelight in a match with three other knocks of note and a total of 696 runs in 99.4 overs. Amelia scored 179 not out in 139 balls. And as New Zealand crossed South Africa’s 346 with two balls left, it became the highest successful chase  in women’s ODI history.

The result hardly seemed like when New Zealand, faced with a chase of 347, lost Suzie Bates in the fifth over, bowled by Ayabonga Khaka. Amelia settled in fast, but by the midway stage, New Zealand were four down, Kayla Reyneke striking twice and Sune Luus once as Georgia Plimmer, Maddy Green and Brooke Halliday all fell without making a significant contribution.

Amelia finally found the partner she needed in Isabella Gaze, the wicketkeeper-batter at No. 6. Together, the two of them 120 runs in 82 balls, Amelia scoring 47 of those runs in 34 balls to Gaze’s enterprising 68 in 48, studded with 11 fours.

By the time Gaze fell, becoming the first of two wickets in the game for Masabata Klaas, New Zealand had bounced right back and were in with a strong sniff. Amelia, by then on 113 off 97 balls, looked in the mood.

And then, with the lower-order batters for company, Amelia did what she had to: speed up. She scored a-run-a-ball 23 in a 40-run stand with Izzy Sharp, then 25 in 12 balls with her sister Jess, Rosemary Mair came and went, and then Amelia finished the job in the company of debutant Kayley Knight with two balls left. Amelia had reached her century – her fifth in ODIs, which includes a double-century – off 90 balls, and the 79 she scored after that came off just 49 more.

Earlier, South Africa would have felt happy with their performance with the bat after New Zealand had won the toss and asked them to bat, having lost the first game batting first, though not out of choice.

New Zealand struck early, removing Tazmin Brits in the eighth over, but then had to wait till the 28th before they got lucky again. In between, Laura Wolvaardt (69 in 74 balls) and Anneke Bosch (91 in 90) had added 132 runs in 124 balls, and South Africa were clearly on top.

South Africa continued to get strong partnerships with many of their batters settling in and showing form: 44 between Bosch and Luus (40), 34 between Luus and Sinalo Jafta (37), 40 between Jafta and Chloe Tryon (52*), 36 in just 18 balls between Tryon and Nadine de Klerk (18), and 25 in 12 balls for the unbroken seventh wicket between Tryon and Reyneke (9*). All of that added up to a very healthy total despite Bree Illing’s 3 for 60 and Knight’s 2 for 65, and South Africa would have expected the finish the night with the series in the bag, till Amelia decided otherwise.

Brief scores:
New Zealand Women 350 for 8 in 49.4 overs  (Amelia Kerr 179*, Isabella Gaze 68; Ayabonga Khaka 3-51, Kayla Reyneke 2-54, Masabata  Klaas 2-61) beat South Africa Women  346 for 6 (Anneke Bosch 91, Laura Wolvaardt 69, Chloe Tryon 52*, Sune Luus 40; Bree  Illing 3-60, Kaylee Knight 2-65) by two wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Ice-cool Connolly leads nervy Punjab Kings home on IPL debut

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13 hours ago

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2026/04/1

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Cooper Connolly was the Player of the Match on his IPL debut [Cricinfo]

Punjab Kings 165 for 7 in 19.1 overs (Cooper Connolly 72*, Prabhsimran Singh 37, Shreyas Iyer 18, Xavier Bartlett 11*; Kagsio Rabada 1-13, Ashok Sharma 1-31, Rashid Khan 1-29, Washington Sundar 1-27, Prasidh Krishna 3-29) beat Gujarat Titans 162 for 6 in 20 overs  (Sai Sudarshan 13, Shubman Gill 39, Joss Buttler 38, Glenn Phillips 25, Washington Sundar 18, Rahul Tewatia 11*; Marco Jansen 1-20, Vijayakumar Vyshak 3-34, Yuzvendra Chahal 2-28) by three wickets

Gujarat Titans (GT) stopped Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their tracks but could not stop them from going over the finish line in New Chandigarh. Cooper Connolly steered the hosts home in a chase that began authoritatively before taking nervy turns.

Prabhsimran Singh led the initial charge alongside Connolly before Prasidh Krishna initiated a collapse that derailed the chase. But with help from Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett, Connolly took PBKS home with five balls to spare.

GT had a sub-par outing with the bat, with three of their top four getting off to good starts but none of them capitalising. Yuzvendra Chahal was back to his best, taking out Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, who top-scored with 39 and 38 respectively.

PBKS’ bowlers conceded 14 extras, 11 of which were wides, four of them coming in the final over by Arshdeep Singh. Perhaps the more relevant stat separating the teams was that GT hit three sixes in their innings and PBKS as many as 14.

Chahal came on with GT well set on 65 for 1 off 7 overs. He bowled slow, and varied his lines against Gill to dismiss him fourth time in the IPL. This time, it was a slog sweep that carried to deep midwicket.

There were a couple of near-chances in the 11th over, one a caught-and-bowled chance off Buttler and then one off Glenn Phillips, who hit an airy four that went just wide of Shreyas Iyer at cover. Chahal returned in the 16th, after a three-over break, with Buttler batting on 38 off 30 and itching for runs. Two dots later, Buttler looked to clear long-on but Bartlett used his height and reach to take an excellent high catch.

Vijaykumar Vyshak bowled across phases and found success later in the innings. Buttler and Gill took him on initially, hitting two fours and a six in his first two overs, the sixth and eighth of the GT innings. He came back and got Glenn Phillips to hole out to long-off in the 14th.

He saved the best for the death, bowling slower balls, either into the pitch or pitched right up. The first variant got Washington Sundar caught, cutting to deep point, and the latter had Shahrukh Khan slogging to deep square leg.

The pitch seemed flat early on as Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Buttler started with a flurry of fours. Nine in the first six overs, in fact. There were drives, pulls and flicks, and a gorgeous back-foot punch by Buttler off Vyshak.

The slowdown came in the middle overs, which saw GT make 77 for 3. Buttler faced 14 dots in his 33-ball 38, Gill, having rocketed to 27 off 15, made just 12 off his last 12 balls.

Phillips got off to a promising start on GT debut, hitting Chahal for a six and a four within his first eight balls at the crease. He missed out on a couple of boundaries because of Marco Jansen’s fielding at long-off. In the end, three of the top-four batters got to 25 but none went past 39.

After Kagiso Rabada dismissed Priyansh Arya cheaply, Connolly and Prabhsimran took him on: they hit three sixes in the fourth over, the same as GT’s innings tally.

Connolly then used Ashok Sharma’s pace to carve a length ball over cover point. He then hit two sixes off successive Rashid overs while Prabhsimran did the same off Washington Sundar.

However, Prabhsimran couldn’t get going against Rashid. He faced eight balls and scored just two before charging the legspinner and finding Prasidh at long-on. PBKS were 83 for 1 in the tenth over.

The momentum didn’t flag with that wicket, as Shreyas hit sixes off back-to-back short balls from Ashok. But out of nowhere, Prasidh dismissed the PBKS captain, who chipped a half-volley straight to deep midwicket.

This brought about a burst of T20-style wickets where the field mattered more than the quality of the ball. Nehal Wadhera cut a shortish slower ball straight to cover. Shashank Singh, looking to run the ball to deep third, nicked to the keeper off Prasidh. Marcus Stoinis, off Prasidh again, carved a shortish ball to deep third. PBKS had lost four wickets in the space of 16 balls for eight runs.

At 121 for 6, with PBKS needing 42 off 30, the game was flipping. But Connolly was ice-cool against Rabada. He punished two short balls to bookend the 16th over, the first cut over backward point for four to bring up his fifty and the last one pulled over square leg for six.

The pressure was eased at the other end as Jansen and Bartlett pulled Prasidh for sixes in the 17th and 19th overs respectively. That was where PBKS effectively sealed the game.

Brief scores:
Punjab Kings 165 for 7 in 19.1 overs (Cooper Connolly 72*, Prabhsimran Singh 37, Shreyas Iyer 18, Xavier Bartlett 11*; Kagsio Rabada 1-13, Ashok Sharma 1-31, Rashid Khan 1-29, Washington Sundar 1-27, Prasidh Krishna 3-29) beat Gujarat Titans 162 for 6 in 20 overs  (Sai Sudarshan 13, Shubman Gill 39, Joss Buttler 38, Glenn Phillips 25, Washington Sundar 18, Rahul Tewatia 11*; Marco Jansen 1-20, Vijayakumar Vyshak 3-34, Yuzvendra Chahal 2-28) by three wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Heat Index at Caution Level in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Eastern, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala district

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18 hours ago

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2026/04/1

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Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 31 March 2026, valid for 01 April 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Eastern, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala district.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

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