Mitchell Starc powered Delhi Capitals (DC) to an exhilarating Super Over win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) of their IPL 2025 match. With RR needing nine off the ultimate over while chasing 189, Starc forced the Super Over, where he only conceded 11 runs, a complete which was achieved by DC batter KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs with two balls to spare. The win saw DC reclaim the highest spot within the IPL 2025 points table with five wins in six games while RR remained eighth with 4 points from seven matches.
There have been no changes within the Orange Cap and Purple Cap leaderboards, that are still led by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) vice-captain Nicholas Pooran and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) spinner Noor Ahmad, respectively. KKR bowlers Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy are on 10 wickets each, two behind Noor.
Chasing 189, Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 off 37) and ‘local lad’ Nitish Rana (51 off 28) had the Royals cruising, but DC’s bowlers turned the tide with a roaring late surge, eventually tying the sport at 188/4.
The late drama followed a solid batting effort by DC, built on Abishek Porel’s composed 49 and explosive cameos from skipper Axar Patel (34 off 14) and Tristan Stubbs (34 not out off 18), lifting them to a competitive 188/5 after being asked to bat.
Desperate for a win to reignite their campaign, Jaiswal got here out all guns blazing as he clobbered two sixes off Mukesh Kumar before dismantling Mitchell Starc with two boundaries and a towering maximum, making his intent clear.
Sanju Samson joined the party at the same time as Ashutosh Sharma spilled a regulation catch. The Royals’ captain eventually retired hurt, after pulling his side.
With the chase humming along, Axar wicketless all season, broke the drought with a ripper that outfoxed Riyan Parag.
Jaiswal, nevertheless, looked invincible until Axar turned over again to his trusted match-winner Kuldeep Yadav (1/33 in 4 overs). The move worked. Delhi’s standout wrist-spinner struck gold, removing the set Jaiswal.
But Rana was in no mood to let up. The southpaw batted with precision, sending anything in his arc to the fence with ease.
His calculated aggression and clean ball-striking kept Royals firmly on the right track. But once Rana was trapped led before by Starc the script modified.
Earlier, if Porel and KL Rahul (38) laid a solid foundation with a 63-run stand, Axar’s blistering 13-ball 34, together with Tristan Stubbs’ (34 not out off 18 balls) late surge, provided the ultimate flourish in an innings where momentum swung like a pendulum between the 2 sides.
Sandeep Sharma (0/33) bowled beautifully through his spell, took pace off his deliveries. Nevertheless, he lost his rhythm in the ultimate over, leaking 4 wides and a no-ball.
Delhi Capitals got off to a fiery start, with Jake Fraser-McGurk (9) cracking back-to-back boundaries off Jofra Archer (2/32) to set the tone.
Young Porel lit up the stadium early on, taking the second over by storm. He tore into Tushar Deshpande, smashing 23 runs, including 4 elegant boundaries.
However the highlight was a sublime flick over deep backward square for a maximum that had the gang roaring.
Nevertheless, DC’s momentum faltered as Fraser-McGurk’s lean patch continued. The Australian lofted a straightforward catch to Yashasvi Jaiswal at mid-off within the fourth over, gifting Rajasthan Royals a breakthrough.
Run outs got here back to haunt Delhi again as a mix-up between Porel and the in-form Karun Nair (0) resulted within the latter’s dismissal, abruptly halting the Capitals’ early charge.
The Royals’ bowlers tightened the noose through the middle overs, drying up the boundaries and constructing persistent pressure.
Yet, Porel found a gentle ally in seasoned Rahul. The veteran batter brought a way of calm amid storm, easing the pressure with two towering sixes — one launched down the bottom off Deshpande within the seventh, and one other elegantly lifted over long-off against Mahesh Theekshana within the eleventh.
Just when the hosts looked like having rebuild their innings, Archer was brought back skipper Sanju Samson. And the English pacer struck gold, dismissing Rahul with back of length delivery that found Shimron Hetmyer at deep midwicket.
The West Indian held on to a low catch, inches above the bottom, swinging the momentum back in Rajasthan’s favour.
But DC skipper Axar, who hasn’t had the perfect of tournaments exploded, smashing 4 boundaries and two maximums before Stubbs’ clean strikes helped Delhi finish strong.
(With PTI Inputs)
Topics mentioned in this text
