Before Sunday (April 27, 2025), Krunal Pandya had batted in just four of nine matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in this year’s IPL and scored 24 runs off 28 balls. He made up for his lack of runs and batting opportunities in the earlier matches by coming to the fore against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Chasing 163, the all-rounder’s unbeaten 73 off 47 balls delivered a critical six-wicket win for the visitor. It stretches RCB’s perfect away record this year to six wins out of six.
When Krunal walked in to bat at No. 5, RCB was in a spot of bother at 26 for three. But with Virat Kohli, the master of such chases, for company, the left-hander was able to play a defining hand. They put together 119 runs for the fourth wicket. Kohli’s overall contribution was 51.
With the surface not the kind where a batter could blaze away, it was mostly with ones and twos that the two kept the scoreboard ticking in the formative stages of their alliance.
It was in the 13th over, bowled by Mukesh Kumar, that Krunal sparked a shift in momentum with two straight sixes — a swivelled pull over short fine-leg was followed by a thumping drive over long-off. In the next over, Kuldeep Yadav bore the brunt as Krunal drove over extra cover for another six.
There could have been a twist in the tale had Abhishek Porel held onto a catch to send back Krunal in the 16th over. But that didn’t materialise.
Krunal played his part with the ball, too, with figures of 4-0-28-1. That Capitals were kept to 162 for eight was also down to pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood making key inroads.
For Delhi Capitals, K.L. Rahul was the top-scorer, but his contribution of 41 off 39 deliveries didn’t hit the high notes expected of him. If not for a late blitz from Tristan Stubbs, who scored 34 off 18 balls and went after
Yash Dayal in a 19-run penultimate over, Capitals would have finished with far fewer on the board.
SCOREBOARD
DELHI CAPITALS
Abishek Porel c Jitesh b Hazlewood 28 (11b, 2×4, 2×6), Faf du Plessis c Kohli b Krunal 22 (26b, 2×4), Karun Nair c Bhuvneshwar b Dayal 4 (4b, 1×4), K.L. Rahul c Bethell b Bhuvneshwar 41 (39b, 3×4), Axar Patel b Hazlewood 15 (13b, 1×4, 1×6), Tristan Stubbs c Hazlewood b Bhuvneshwar 34 (18b, 5×4, 1×6), Ashutosh Sharma (Impact Player for du Plessis) b Bhuvneshwar 2 (3b), Vipraj Nigam run out 12 (6b, 1×6), Mitchell Starc (not out) 0 (0b), Dushmantha Chameera (not out) 0 (1b); Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-2): 4; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 162.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-33 (Porel, 3.4 overs), 2-44 (Karun, 4.4), 3-72 (du Plessis, 9.5), 4-102 (Axar, 13.4), 5-118 (Rahul, 16.2), 6-120 (Ashutosh, 16.5), 7-158 (Vipraj, 19.2), 8-162 (Stubbs, 19.5).
RCB BOWLING
Bhuvneshwar 4-0-33-3, Dayal 4-0-42-1, Hazlewood 4-0-36-2, Suyash 4-0-22-0, Krunal 4-0-28-1.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS
Jacob Bethell c Karun b Axar 12 (6b, 1×4, 1×6), Virat Kohli c Starc b Chameera 51 (47b, 4×4), Devdutt Padikkal (Impact Player for Suyash) b Axar 0 (2b), Rajat Patidar run out 6 (6b, 1×4), Krunal Pandya (not out) 73 (47b, 5×4, 4×6), Tim David (not out) 19 (5b, 3×4, 1×6); Extras (nb-2, w-2): 4; Total (for four wkts. in 18.3 overs): 165.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-20 (Bethell, 2.2), 2-20 (Padikkal, 2.4), 3-26 (Patidar, 3.6), 4-145 (Kohli, 17.5).
CAPITALS BOWLING
Axar 4-0-19-2, Starc 3-0-31-0, Mukesh 3.3-0-51-0, Vipraj 1-0-12-0, Kuldeep 4-0-28-0, Chameera 3-0-24-1.
Toss: RCB.
PoM: Krunal.
RCB won by six wickets with nine balls to spare.
RCB 114/3 in 15 overs
Kohli (41) and Krunal (53) were at the crease
Published – April 28, 2025 12:12 am IST