Starc's first T20 five-for gives Capitals easy IPL win

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mitchell Starc delivered an outstanding performance, achieving his first five-wicket haul in T20 cricket. Thanks to his exceptional bowling, the Delhi Capitals triumphed over the Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets.

The 35-year-old Australian left-arm fast bowler took 5 wickets for 35 runs, helping the Delhi Capitals dismiss the Sunrisers Hyderabad for a total of 163 runs. Earlier, the Sunrisers' captain, Pat Cummins, won the coin toss and chose to bat first.

Aniket Verma top-scored for the Sunrisers with 74 runs off 41 balls, being one of only three batsmen from the team to reach double figures. Starc and Kuldeep Yadav bowled exceptionally well, inflicting significant damage on the Sunrisers with figures of 5-35 and 3-22, respectively.

During the Capitals' chase, Faf du Plessis smashed 50 runs off 27 balls, and he along with Jake Fraser-McGurk contributed 81 runs for the first wicket, providing a solid foundation for the Capitals. Sunrisers' leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari, in his IPL debut, dismissed both batsmen, slowing down the Capitals' momentum with figures of 3-42.

However, Abhishek Porel and Tristan Stubbs, remaining unbeaten on 34 and 21 runs respectively, guided the Delhi Capitals to victory with 30 balls to spare. The Capitals started this year's IPL campaign with two opening wins.

Starc's performance surpassed his previous best in the format from nearly a decade ago – 4-15 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kings XI Punjab in the IPL in May 2015. In the match against the Sunrisers, he struck early, claiming the wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, both of whom attempted big hits but were caught by outfielders.

However, most satisfying for him was the dismissal of his Australian teammate, Travis Head, which was met with a knowing smile. Sunrisers opener Head, facing Starc's bowling, gloved the ball to Delhi's wicketkeeper KL Rahul, ensuring that Starc has now dismissed the left-handed batsman six times across all formats. Since 2015, Head has faced Starc eight times, scoring only 18 runs off 34 balls.

Starc returned for his final over in the penultimate over of the Sunrisers' innings, eager to secure his first T20 five-wicket haul in his 209th T20 match. He had to thank Capitals captain Axar Patel and Du Plessis for two brilliant diving catches – dismissing Harshal Patel and Vian Mulders respectively – to complete the feat.

"There's not a whole heap of ego in T20 cricket as a bowler – sometimes you're just trying to scrape by – so it's nice to contribute tonight," Starc said after receiving the Player of the Match award. "As a bowler, you've got to think outside the box a lot more now with the way scores are trending. You've got to do things you wouldn't normally do and try and find a little edge against the batters."

In another match on Sunday, England fast bowler Jofra Archer bounced back to his best after a poor start to this year's IPL, helping the Rajasthan Royals defeat the Chennai Super Kings by six runs. After going wicketless and expensive in the tournament opener, Archer conceded just one run in his first two overs against CSK and became the first bowler to bowl a maiden over in this year's IPL, finishing with figures of 1-13.