DC vs RCB, IPL 2026 39th match: Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowl Delhi Capitals out for 75, win by nine wickets

Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced one of the most clinical demolition jobs of Indian Premier League 2026, bowling Delhi Capitals out for 75 and chasing the target down with nine wickets and 81 balls to spare at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Monday, April 27, 2026. The 39th match of the season was effectively settled inside the first six overs of the home side’s innings, when Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood combined to reduce Delhi Capitals to 8 for 6 in a powerplay that produced just 13 runs, the lowest powerplay score in a completed Indian Premier League game.

How did Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood engineer one of the most lethal Indian Premier League powerplays on record?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and chose to bowl, and his decision was vindicated almost from the first delivery. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, opening the bowling at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, struck with the second ball of the innings when he had Sahil Parakh edging an outswinger and bowled the eighteen-year-old debutant the very next ball with a sharp inswinger that crashed into middle stump. Parakh, who had been promoted ahead of Prithvi Shaw and is rated by Delhi Capitals director of cricket Venugopal Rao as a future India prospect, lasted only two balls on Indian Premier League debut.

Josh Hazlewood then joined the assault from the other end. The Australia fast bowler removed Delhi Capitals captain KL Rahul with his first delivery of the second over, drawing a top-edged pull that wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma collected, and trapped Sameer Rizvi for a golden duck the very next ball with a fuller, wider length that found late away movement and produced an edge behind. Tristan Stubbs survived the hat-trick ball but fell to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the following over, also caught behind. By the time the powerplay restrictions ended, Delhi Capitals had lost six wickets for thirteen runs, and the contest was already beyond competitive reach.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with figures of three for five, while Josh Hazlewood returned four for twelve and was named Player of the Match. The Australia seamer, who had conceded plenty in the previous fixture against Punjab Kings, said the early exchanges offered enough movement to work with and that the ball was skidding through quickly off a short of a length. He added that the dismissal of Nitish Rana, who fell to a short ball, reflected his focus on accuracy with the bumper.

Why did Delhi Capitals collapse to the lowest powerplay total in completed Indian Premier League history?

The pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium offered a dramatic contrast to the surface that had hosted the previous fixture in Delhi, when 265 was successfully chased down. The adjacent strip used for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru fixture produced movement and bounce that resembled a Test match session more than a Twenty20 contest, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood exploited those conditions with relentless discipline.

Delhi Capitals had made three changes to their playing eleven, two of them tactical and one enforced. Lungi Ngidi, who had collided with the ground while fielding on Saturday and required hospital observation, was declared stable but ruled out of selection. Sri Lanka fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera came in as his replacement. Pathum Nissanka and Mukesh Kumar were also dropped, with Sahil Parakh and New Zealand seamer Kyle Jamieson named in the bat-first eleven. The reshaped batting order offered no resistance to the new ball, with five of the top seven dismissed without scoring.

Lower-order contributions from Abishek Porel, who came in as the Impact Player substitute and top-scored with thirty, helped Delhi Capitals avoid the indignity of recording the lowest total in Indian Premier League history. Even so, the eventual total of seventy-five all out in 16.3 overs was the lowest match aggregate involving Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals in Indian Premier League history once the chase concluded, with the combined runs across both innings settling at 152.

What did Virat Kohli’s 9000-run milestone mean for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s chase against Delhi Capitals?

The chase of seventy-six was completed inside seven overs, and Virat Kohli used the brief contest to enter previously uncharted statistical territory. The former India captain became the first batter to reach 9000 runs in the Indian Premier League, reaching the landmark with a single pushed to long off during a partnership with Devdutt Padikkal. Virat Kohli finished unbeaten on twenty-three, while Devdutt Padikkal anchored the chase with thirty-four not out from the other end.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru lost only one wicket in the chase, that of Jacob Bethell for twenty from eleven balls. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar had introduced Jacob Bethell as the Impact Player substitute for Suyash Sharma, given that the chase required no further bowling input. Virat Kohli ended the contest with consecutive sixes off T Natarajan, sealing the result with eighty-one balls to spare and capping a performance that boosted the Royal Challengers Bengaluru net run rate substantially.

How does the result reshape the Indian Premier League 2026 standings and the playoffs race?

The win lifted Royal Challengers Bengaluru to within one point of table-toppers Punjab Kings, who play Rajasthan Royals in their next fixture. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, sitting second in the Indian Premier League 2026 table, also gained significantly on net run rate given the margin of victory and balls remaining. Delhi Capitals, who entered the fixture with realistic playoff ambitions on the back of KL Rahul’s unbeaten 152 from sixty-seven balls against Punjab Kings in their previous outing, slid to seventh in the table.

KL Rahul’s record against his former franchise had been one of the storylines heading into the contest. The Delhi Capitals captain had accumulated 789 runs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru since leaving the franchise in 2018, the highest tally he had registered against any team in that period, with an average of 69.91 and a strike rate of 145.65 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Monday’s dismissal for a single-figure score, top-edging a pull to wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma in the second over, was a rare failure in a fixture that has historically rewarded him.

For Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the result reinforced the bowling depth they have built around Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, and the spin combination of Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma. The capacity to bowl out the opposition for under one hundred on a surface offering early movement adds a dimension to a side that has historically been viewed as batting-heavy. Phil Salt, the England opener, missed a second consecutive game with an injury, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will hope for his return in time for the closing stretch of the league phase.

What are the key takeaways from the Delhi Capitals versus Royal Challengers Bengaluru 39th match of Indian Premier League 2026?

• Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Delhi Capitals by nine wickets with eighty-one balls remaining at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi, on April 27, 2026.
• Delhi Capitals were bowled out for seventy-five, with their powerplay score of thirteen registering as the lowest in a completed Indian Premier League game.
• Josh Hazlewood claimed four for twelve and was named Player of the Match, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three for five in a combined new-ball spell that reduced Delhi Capitals to 8 for 6.
• Virat Kohli became the first batter to reach 9000 runs in Indian Premier League history during his unbeaten knock of twenty-three in the chase.
• Royal Challengers Bengaluru moved to within one point of table-toppers Punjab Kings, while Delhi Capitals slid to seventh in the Indian Premier League 2026 standings.