Delhi Capitals 188 for 5 (Porel 49, Rahul 38, Stubbs 34*, Axar 34, Archer 2-32) tied with Rajasthan Royals 188 for 4 (Rana 51, Jaiswal 51, Samson 31, Axar 1-23, Starc 1-36) DC won the Super Over
Nine runs needed, six wickets in hand - it should have been a routine finish for Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2025. But Mitchell Starc flipped the script, delivering five pinpoint yorkers in a sensational final over. Dhruv Jurel couldn't find two runs off the last ball, and Starc dragged the game into a Super Over.
RR imploded in the Super Over, lasting just five balls and losing both Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal to run outs. DC chased down the 12-run target in just four deliveries.
With DC needing 5 off 3, Tristan Stubbs pulled Sandeep Sharma for six to seal DC's fifth win in six games that took them to the top of the points table. Stubbs had earlier contributed a vital unbeaten 18-ball 34 in regulation time to help DC score 42 off the last three overs.
The Stubbs show
The 200-run mark had been breached on each of the last eight T20s by the side batting first at Arun Jaitley Stadium. DC didn't look like getting anywhere close, until Stubbs joined hands with Axar Patel, who also injected momentum with his takedown of Wanindu Hasaranga to make 34 off 14.
RR also didn't finish well. Sandeep, who had figures of 3-0-14-0, bowled four wides and a no-ball in what proved to be a 11-ball over that ended with Maheesh Theekshana dropping a sitter, the over costing 19.
There was also a reprieve for Stubbs on 12 when Parag put down a regulation chance at long-on. And he hurt them with some important runs at the death - all contributing to RR chasing a bigger total than they would have.
While Stubbs' runs were crucial, a gun throw running around from wide long-on to restrict the penultimate delivery to a single in regulation time - with RR needing 3 off 2 - was invaluable.
Cheteshwar Pujara on the batter's ideal role for Delhi Capitals
The drop that could have proved costly
It could have so easily turned pear-shaped for Stubbs before that blockbuster finish. Nitish Rana was reprieved on 20 when Stubbs palmed the ball over the long-on boundary to deny Axar a wicket.
Rana's wicket would have been the perfect double-strike for DC, who only five balls earlier had dismissed Jaiswal when Kuldeep Yadav lulled him in flight and had him drag one to long-on.
Rana kicked on to make 31 more off 12 deliveries to take pressure off RR going into the last three overs from a slightly precarious 73 off 36, with the ball gripping. It needed a gun inswinging yorker from Starc in his third over to dismiss Rana, with RR needing 28 off 14. Shimron Hetmyer and Jurel then needed 9 off the final over, but couldn't manage a single boundary as Starc nailed his yorkers.
Starc's ragged start and Samson's injury
Before the finish, Starc had a nightmarish start when Jaiswal hit him for a sequence of 4, 6, 4 in his first over. Jaiswal chewed into Starc's full-length deliveries, clearing the front leg and moving them with brute force over the infield towards the short leg-side fence. When he bowled short and into the body, Jaiswal got inside the line and pulled him imperiously over deep backward square.
Ian Bishop and Cheteshwar Pujara on Starc's final overs
Jaiswal's early impetus also seemed to have an effect on Sanju Samson, who found his hitting range until a suspected side issue forced him to retire hurt with RR 61 without loss in 5.3 overs. The two balls leading into him retiring out were picked for a four and a six. But it was only when he reached out to cut Vipraj Nigam, that he pulled up and went off straightaway.
Porel, Rahul lead DC's fight
DC lost Jake Fraser-McGurk and Karun Nair early. Fraser-McGurk holed out to mid-off, and Nair, fresh off an IPL high score in his comeback game, was run out for a three-ball duck after being roughed up by two Jofra Archer short balls. Before that, Abishek Porel picked 23 off the second over, by Tushar Deshpande, to get going.
Rahul was cautious to begin with, the slowness of the surface making it tough for stroke making. At one stage, he was on 17 off 18 but couldn't quite push on - eventually falling for a 32-ball 38 when he pulled Archer to deep midwicket.
Porel, too, struggled to bring out the big hits after his turbocharge, eventually falling for 49. Fortunately for DC, Axar injected momentum that Stubbs carried forward to give them a total to bowl at, which they defended in the end courtesy Starc's mastery.
