In the 46th IPL 2025 match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the Delhi Capitals (DC) fell to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by a margin of six wickets. Rajat Patidar and company exacted revenge for losing to the same club at home a month prior.
Interestingly, this was RCB’s sixth straight victory away from home this season. Krunal Pandya’s presence gives the squad a balanced appearance and makes them simply unstoppable. They are currently the table toppers and are probably going to stay that way for a while.
Talking Points
1. Kohli and Pandya collaborate to score more than 100 runs.
Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya scored 119 runs together for the third wicket in the game. They established a strong foundation for the club with their steady batting. Pandya took one wicket and scored 73 runs off 47 balls in an all-around performance. Although he was removed for 51 runs off 47 balls, Kohli remained the innings’ mainstay. Before they were ejected, they worked together to guarantee that RCB would win the game.
2. The superb bowling of Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar
Against the DC batsmen, RCB bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were excellent, collecting two and three wickets, respectively. By taking wickets frequently, they held the home team to just 162 runs. Hazlewood opened the scoring, while Kumar put pressure on the club by dismissing two key batters. He was the RCB’s top bowler in this match.
3. Patel’s overall effectiveness
Axar Patel, the captain of DC, performed admirably against RCB in today’s game. He took two wickets in the second innings after scoring 15 runs off 13 balls in the first. First he eliminated Jacob Bethell, then Devdutt Padikkal. Even though he gave it his all, today wasn’t his day.
Who Said What?
Axar Patel, DC (Losing Captain)
I feel that we were 10-15 runs short. I thought in the first innings, the wicket was a bit tough but due to dew, it eased out in the second innings. We missed a few catches, we need to take those catches. Intent was the same but the wicket was two-paced but after dew came in it become easier, we don’t think we could have done anything different.
We kept losing wickets. If a batter would have spent some time in the middle, then he could have accelerated, we could have got 10-15 runs extra. (On him batting one position down the order tonight) KL has been batting so well so I wanted him at No. 4. One side of the ground was shorter as well so we sent him at No. 4.
Rajat Patidar, RCB (Winning Captain)
It was a total team performance. The way the bowlers exeucted their plans, was nice to see. As I said earlier, we are not a team who are looking at the venues. We are looking to play good cricket. Chasing gives a lot of clarity about the wicket, the bowling and the score and we could plan accordingly. It was a gettable target. The bowlers did a great job. All credit to all the bowlers. We were pretty much clear about the chasing. It feels great when you lead RCB. There are many great players. It is a great opportunity for me to learn.
Krunal Pandya, Player of the Match
It’s always good to get the result. Sometimes when you put in the hard work and it shows the result, it feels good. My role was clear that if we lose three wickets, to stich the partnerships because we have hitters down the order – Tim David and Jitesh. When Virat is there at the other end, it’s always quite easy, I’ll give credit to him. My first 20 balls were quite scratchy but he kept pushing me that ‘you’ll do it.
‘ I’ve always been an economical bowler, it’s my 10th season. I’ve worked a lot on my bowling with my variations. I just want to keep my head down and continue this. (On bowling the bouncer) Batsmanship is getting better and players are more fearless in the IPL so you have to be one step ahead. I want to keep the batsmen guessing.
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