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Starc stars as Delhi are routed for 95

Mitchell Starc, Varun Aaron and Chris Gayle dominate as RCB record easy win

Mitchell Starc and Varun Aaron combined for a five-wicket haul and Chris Gayle smashed a half-century as Royal Challengers Bangalore handed Delhi Daredevils a drubbing in their 2015 IPL encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

Aaron's twin strikes and Starc’s best ever figures in his IPL career sent the Daredevils packing for the lowest team total of this tournament before Gayle launched a typically forceful assault to guide Bangalore to a convincing, 10-wicket victory.

Delhi never got going after batting first and were bowled out for just 95, a target that Gayle and captain Virat Kohli made a mockery of by getting it in only 10.3 overs.

It was the extra pace and bounce of Starc and Aaron that put Delhi on the back foot, and they never recovered.

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Varun Aaron celebrates the wicket of Yuvraj Singh // BCCI

In the very first over of the game, Starc bowled one of those lethal yorkers that have made him such a potent force this season. It thudded into the pads of Shreyas Iyer and while the late swing could have carried it down the leg-side, the umpire thought otherwise and raised his finger.

Mayank Agarwal and captain JP Duminy seemed to have ridden the early storm, steering Delhi to 1-36 in the final over of the fielding restrictions. However, things started going awry for them and it started with Duminy getting out to a loose shot outside the off-stump, throwing his bat to David Wiese and getting an edge through to the keeper. 

Then, Aaron changed the match with a brilliant two-over spell that included two wickets from two balls.

Yuvraj Singh, who replaced Duminy at the crease, was sent back by an Aaron delivery that reared up at him and a ball later, Angelo Mathews fended a bouncer to square-leg. Delhi had crumbled to 4-39 and Aaron would end up with the player-of-the-match award for this game-turning spell.

Left with no option but to rebuild the innings, Mayank Agarwal and Kedar Jadhav got into that mode but it was slow going. Their 28-run stand took Delhi out of trouble for a while but the dropping run-rate ensured they had to look for the boundaries soon enough.

In his first attempt to do so, Agarwal missed a delivery that didn't bounce from Iqbal Abdulla and he was stumped for 27. It was a procession of wickets after that.

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Delhi wickets tumbled during their innings // BCCI

Nathan Coulter-Nile hit a four in his eight-ball stay, but missed a slower one from Wiese and was given out lbw.

Amit Mishra failed to get his bat down in time to a Starc yorker from around the stumps before the left-armer cleaned up Shahbaz Nadeem in his final over in a similar fashion.

Starc had followed up his three-wicket haul against Mumbai with figures of 3-20 from his four, while Aaron and Wiese picked up a couple apiece.

If their bowling performance was a top drawer effort, Bangalore’s openers gave an exhibition of how to chase down such totals. 

Gayle saw off eight balls before he launched into his first big stroke; Domnic Joseph’s length picked up quickly by the Jamaican and dispatched over long-off for a six. A ball later, he pulled the same bowler for a four and rounded off the second over of the innings with another boundary drilled to the right of the mid-on fielder.

With the lid lifted off Gayle, he followed with at least one boundary an over until the end of the fielding restrictions, and Bangalore whizzed to the 50-run mark after six overs.

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Chris Gayle wasted no time in the run chase // BCCI

At the other end, Kohli continued in the opener’s role with Gayle, as he had in the previous game, and played it to perfection.

He was content to give the strike to Gayle and took time to play himself in. His first boundary only came after the Powerplay overs, and he followed it up with a second off the very next ball - both classy shots and on either side of the wicket off Mishra.

Kohli (35 not out) would go on to add four more boundaries to seal the win, including two in two off Coulter-Nile, who conceded 30 from 3.3 overs.

Gayle brought up his half-century with a slog sweep off Purple Cap-holder Imran Tahir in the eighth over, needing only 29 balls to get there, and ended unbeaten on 61.

The win took Bangalore to six points alongside Delhi, who have played an extra game.

The Royal Challengers next play Rajasthan Royals while Delhi will be up against Kings XI Punjab.