DC vs SRH Match : 10

Mitchell Starc secures his maiden T20 five-wicket haul in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad

           Delhi Capitals' fast bowler Mitchell Starc finished with figures of 3.4-0-35-5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday as he recorded his best figures in T20s.

            Mitchell Starc secured figures of 3.4-0-35-5. Prior to this, Starc had claimed three four-wicket hauls in T20s. Additionally, he exceeded the 200-wicket milestone in T20s. Mitchell Starc produced a remarkable performance, picking up his maiden five-wicket haul in Delhi Capitals' clash against Sunrisers. His previous best figures of 4-0-15-4 were recorded while representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Kings XI Punjab in 2015 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Furthermore, he achieved two four-wicket hauls for Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders.

       Delhi Capitals are geared up to take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in game 10 of the ongoing IPL 2025. The encounter will be held at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, with the Capitals aiming to capitalize on their first win of the season and extend their winning streak. On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad will strive to make a comeback after experiencing a loss in their previous game.

       Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and have elected to bat.

As Ashutosh Sharma sealed Delhi Capitals' first win with a shot down the ground, he celebrated with a fake switch-hit, dedicating the victory to team mentor Kevin Pietersen. The DC dugout was jubilant, and their captain stated that this aggressive tactic would prevail. 

The lengthy break since their opening game against Lucknow Super Giants would have enabled DC to settle down, reflect on their strategies, and consolidate their winning start. In contrast, Sunrisers face a challenging short turnaround time from their loss to LSG, as they seek to avoid consecutive losses following their five-wicket defeat at home on Thursday. Rishabh Pant's decision to ask Sunrisers to bat demonstrated remarkable boldness, and the bowlers validated his call at the toss with a clever performance that stunned the SRH batting arsenal. If DC wins the toss, will they replicate this boldness by putting SRH into bat in Vizag, where the square boundaries are relatively short? The return of KL Rahul will undoubtedly boost DC's morale, but their top order performance in the previous game raises concerns, given that none of their top five reached 30 while chasing 210 against LSG (with three single-digit scores). They will aim to rectify this statistic on Sunday, while SRH seeks to put their disappointing batting performance against LSG behind them and resume their prolific run-scoring ways.

    Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Zeeshan Ansari, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar

RR vs KKR 

RR Vs KKR : Match 06

TATA IPL 2025

  Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) delivered a comprehensive display to initiate their campaign in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, securing a decisive victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati. Following a robust bowling and fielding performance that established a solid foundation, a batting masterclass from Quinton de Kock culminated in an eight-wicket triumph.

           The KKR bowling unit, consisting of five bowlers, made vital contributions with the wickets, whereas the spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy (2-17) and Moeen Ali (2-23) proved to be the most impactful. De Kock's exceptional unbeaten 61-ball 97, which included eight fours and six sixes, helped KKR attain the modest target of 152 in a swift 17.3 overs.

            Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the batting with a boundary after RR were put in to bat by KKR. Jaiswal soon achieved a milestone of 200 fours in the IPL, prior to hitting a glorious 89m six over the mid-wicket region. Vaibhav Arora ended a 33-run opening partnership by uprooting Sanju Samson’s leg stump, but Rajasthan’s stand-in captain Riyan Parag sustained the momentum with a quick cameo of 25(15), which included three outstanding shots for six, one of them being an audacious one-handed smack over deep square leg. Thereafter, the Moeen Ali & Varun Chakaravarthy show unfolded. Ali - on his KKR debut, playing in place of the unwell Sunil Narine - initiated RR’s collapse with Parag’s wicket as Quinton de Kock impressively held onto a skier. Jaiswal was caught in the deep soon after, before the wickets of Wanindu Hasaranga and Nitish Rana followed to leave RR at 82/5 after 11 overs.

         Dhruv Jurel put up a lone fight with a 28-ball 33, and coupled with Jofra Archer’s 7-ball 16, the duo kept RR in the game.

        KKR undoubtedly entered the break as the happier side, having restricted RR to 151/9. While Arora and Harshit Rana also contributed with two wickets each, spells of 2-23 in four overs from Ali and 2-17 in four overs from Charavarthy - with a combined 18 dot balls - were the decisive factors. Recognizing the need for a strong powerplay on a two-paced wicket, De Kock got KKR off to a steady start, with the team scoring 40/0 at the six-over mark. RR’s spinners also slowed the scoring rate, and the home side saw the early departures of Ali (5 off 12) and KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane (18 off 15), but De Kock continued to excel. He completed a 35-ball half-century with a six over long-on off Hasaranga before hitting another maximum over mid-wicket off Parag, and KKR accelerated to 90/2 after 12 overs.

         Angkrish Raghuvanshi steadied the ship at one end with 22 off 17, while De Kock continued to strike the ball with precision at the other end, guiding KKR closer to victory. With 17 runs still required off the last three overs, the South African smashed a four and two sixes off consecutive legal deliveries from Archer, securing a decisive victory for KKR with 15 deliveries to spare.

          KKR jumped up to sixth place on the points table, while RR - with two losses on the bounce - were at the bottom.

Brief Scorecard: Kolkata Knight Riders 153/2 in 17.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 97*, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 22*, Wanindu Hasaranga 1-34) defeated Rajasthan Royals 151/9 in 20 overs (Dhruv Jurel 33, Yashasvi Jaiswal 29, Varun Chakaravarthy 2/17, Moeen Ali 2/23) by eight wickets.