DC vs RCB IPL 2026: Royal Challengers Bengaluru tear through Delhi with records in tow
DC vs RCB: Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced one of the most dominant performances in IPL history on 27 April 2026, defeating Delhi Capitals by nine wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, bowling with swing and precision in the powerplay, reduced DC to a catastrophic 13 for 6, which stands as the lowest powerplay score in IPL history.
Delhi eventually scrambled to 75 all out in 16.3 overs, a total that RCB chased down in the seventh over with total ease. Virat Kohli then became the first batter in IPL history to reach 9,000 runs during that same chase, finishing off a massive night for the reigning champions.
How DC crumbled against an inspired RCB attack?
The evening got off to a nightmare start for Delhi. RCB won the toss and chose to field, and Bhuvneshwar yorked 18-year-old IPL debutant Sahil Parakh for a two-ball duck off consecutive deliveries in the first over, an outswinger finding the edge, then an inswinger dismantling the middle stump.
Hazlewood followed with a perfectly pitched ball to KL Rahul in the second over, drawing a top edge to wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma, before an inch of late movement had Sameer Rizvi nicking behind for a golden duck off the very next ball. Bhuvneshwar returned to remove Tristan Stubbs, and DC sat at 8 for 6 inside two overs, a scoreline that looked more like a penalty shootout result than a cricket scorecard.
Hazlewood finished with figures of 4 for 12 and won the Player of the Match award, while Bhuvneshwar took 3 for 5. Only Abishek Porel, who came in lower down, managed to hold his nerve, scoring 30 off 33 balls and steering DC past the all-time lowest IPL total of 49, set ironically by RCB themselves against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017.
Records that Royal Challengers Bengaluru broke and helped create
The win produced a remarkable cluster of records. DC’s powerplay score of 13 for 6 replaced the previous lowest powerplay score in IPL history, and the manner of the collapse, six wickets falling in the first two overs, left the home crowd stunned into silence. Royal Challengers Bengaluru then chased 76 in just 6.3 overs, completing one of the fastest successful run chases in IPL history by balls remaining, finishing with 81 balls to spare.
The nine-wicket margin also boosted RCB’s net run rate considerably, tightening the gap at the top of the points table with Punjab Kings now separated from them by only one point. Devdutt Padikkal hit an imperious 34 off just 13 balls to wrap up the chase, and Jacob Bethell, standing in for the injured Phil Salt, contributed 20 off 11 balls at the top before departing to a superb catch by T Natarajan.
Virat Kohli writes another chapter in IPL history
The most memorable moment of the evening, however, belonged to Virat Kohli. He drove Axar Patel to long-off in the sixth over of the chase to bring up his 9,000th run in the IPL, making him the first batter in the tournament’s history to reach the landmark. No other player has come close; the next on the list, Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, and Suresh Raina, each reached 400-plus runs in a season nine times compared to Kohli’s eleven.
Kohli finished the chase with two sixes off T Natarajan, the second of which ended the match, and he walked off having scored 23 off 15 balls. For Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who have now firmly secured their place in the top two, this win represents more than just two points; it showed the rest of the league that they remain the team to beat in IPL 2026.
