DC beat SRH, DC won by 7 wickets (with 24 balls remaining)
Delhi Capitals (DC) jumped into the top 2 of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 points table with a comfortable seven-wicket victory in an eventful match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Unlike their season opener against Lucknow Super Giants, which was a last-over thriller, the Axar Patel-led DC side won this Sunday afternoon contest with four overs to spare on the back of a commanding performance.
Chasing 164, each of DC’s top five contributed well to the chase, with Faf du Plessis’s 50(27) leading the effort. However, it was their bowling unit that made a defining impact, with Mitchell Starc’s 5/35 – the first five-wicket haul of the season – and Kuldeep Yadav’s 3/22 being the highlights.
The match got off to an eventful and action-packed start after SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and, going against the trend so far this season, elected to bat first.
Travis Head – who had been dismissed five times in seven outings by Mitchell Starc before this game – took his compatriot on with two boundaries in the first over. But a moment of confusion soon after led to Abhishek Sharma being run out for just one run.
Starc added to SRH’s agony with a triple strike in quick time. Ishan Kishan holed out, DC skipper Axar Patel then held onto a skier at mid-on as Nitish Kumar Reddy walked back, before Starc dismissed Head once again to leave SRH reeling at 37/4 in the fifth over.
Despite a big early setback, SRH continued to play the way they know best. The experienced Heinrich Klaasen hit Starc for a six and four inside the first four deliveries he faced. Joined by talented youngster Aniket Verma, the duo led SRH’s charge, putting on 77 runs off just 40 deliveries.
Klaasen’s stay (32 off 19) was cut short by a brilliant catch running backwards from Vipraj Nigam. Amidst more regular wickets at one end courtesy of Kuldeep Yadav – who finished with 3-22 – and some more great catching, Verma played a scintillating knock. He smashed a four followed by consecutive sixes off Patel’s 15th over on his way to a superb 74(41).
However, Verma’s innings was a lone effort. Spearheaded by Starc, who picked up his first five-wicket haul in T20 cricket with 5-35, DC bowled out SRH for 163 in the 19th over.
Unlike SRH, DC got off to a flying start courtesy of their openers. While the often flamboyant Jake Fraser-McGurk took on the anchor role, experienced campaigner Faf du Plessis took the bowling to the cleaners. His attacking mode took off with a 15-run over off Mohammad Shami and DC raced to 52/0 at the end of the powerplay.
Debutant leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari gave SRH a breather with a double-wicket over including the wickets of Fraser-McGurk (38 off 32) and Du Plessis, but the South African gave DC the perfect platform with 50 off 27.
Zeeshan Ansari capped off a dream debut with a spell of 3/42 as he uprooted KL Rahul’s leg stump with a smart piece of bowling. However, a couple of quick and effective cameos from Abishek Porel (34* off 18) and Tristan Stubbs (21* off 14) ensured there were no more hiccups as DC chased down the total in emphatic fashion with 24 deliveries to spare.
Brief Scorecard: Delhi Capitals 166/3 in 16 overs (Faf du Plessis 50, Jake Fraser-McGurk 38, Zeeshan Ansari 3/42) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 163 in 18.3 overs (Aniket Verma 74, Heinrich Klaasen 32, Mitchell Starc 5/35, Kuldeep Yadav 3/22) by seven wickets.
