Delhi Capitals captain Akshar Patel, right, and Ashutosh Sharma celebrate (AP Photo)
New Delhi: Vaibhav Suryavanshi was batting with 43 runs off 17 balls. “We’re so used to his explosive scoring that it doesn’t even seem like an anomaly,” a nearby voice quipped.“Think about it, it’s true.So when he came to the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday night, to take on the Delhi Capitals, and took his tally of sixes to 43 in IPL 2026, including three on the night, it didn’t seem out of place. He has now registered the most sixes by an Indian batsman in a single IPL season, surpassing Abhishek Sharma’s 42 in 2024.Nevertheless, his total of 440 runs (before the match) took him out of the top 10 in the race for the Orange Cap. After 46 runs — off 21 balls — with three sixes and five fours, he moved up to sixth on the list. His stay in between was cut short by Madhav Tiwari.The 22-year-old fast bowler of Delhi Capitals made his mark in the win against Punjab Kings on May 11. With his 2/40 and a valuable cameo of an unbeaten 18, the youngster from Madhya Pradesh had found room for a run in the second game.He again proved decisive with figures of 2/27 although Lungi Ngidi (2/24) was more economical and Mitchell Starc (4/40) more lethal. Starc struck three times in an over — a chance for a hat-trick — with wickets Ryan PragueDonovan Ferreira and Ravi Singh.However, the biggest impact, arguably, was the wicket of Vibhu Suryavanshi which not only put the brakes on the motoring machine, but potentially drove the total further down the stretch.Despite the wicket, it looked a real possibility. RR were at 160/2 after 14 overs with Dhruv Jarrell and Ryan Prague putting on a 72-run partnership. Captain Parag was scoring most of the runs with 51 off 26 balls.At the fog end, Tiwary added the wicket of Shubham Dubey as the DC bowlers delivered in a manner they had not done at home so far this season. He brought out plenty of variation: Ngaed, who had a mixture of slow pace and a delivery that reached the batsmen.Ultimately, RR were restricted to 193/8 — well short of the 220-plus total at one stage — with just 33 runs for six wickets in the final six overs.“Coming into this IPL season, I just thought I would take four or five variations with me and I would stick with them throughout the season. So, I’m working on them, and hopefully the results are working in my favour,” Tiwary said during the mid-innings interaction.“I think the wicket helped a bit. It was in the grip, and so I thought I could use more of them. I just wanted to put myself in high-pressure situations in the nets. So bowling to (David) Miller and bowling to Ashutosh (Sharma) and KL (Rahul) helped me. “I was just trying to figure out how I would bowl against these batsmen, which would help me in this tournament,” he continued.In reply, Delhi Capitals looked set to chase down the target of 194 runs, just like that Rajasthan Royals had started strongly. Abhishek Poorel and KL Rahul 105 runs on the scoreboard in less than 10 overs and the target looked good.But, like RR’s effort, DC lost the plot with one wicket after another. Abhishek Poorel (51), KL Rahul (56) and Axar Patel (34*) moved into double figures but the chase fizzled. Sahil Parkh (9), Tristan Stubbs (4) and David Miller (9) all came and perished without a role.Like DC’s trio of seamers that pulled the game back, it was. Jofra Archer Who kept them in the hunt. His 2/35 kept RR alive in the contest with the flow of wickets and runs dwindling.Ryan Parag’s decision to give the ball to Donovan Ferreira proved to be a turning point. In the 18th over, Ferreira came in for his first innings of the night and piled on 16 to ease any pressure.12 off the last over and 10 off two balls in the last saw DC finally cross the finish line and break their losing streak at home.In the grand scheme of things, RR are still alive in the playoff race but on a night they were cruising with the bat and DC needed 35 runs in 3 overs, it was a missed opportunity.
