For the first time since 2016, Delhi Capitals became the only side to use only fast bowlers throughout their 20 overs in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026), in their game against Punjab Kings on Monday. Bowling first in the contest, DC used five pacers who conceded 210 runs altogether in 20 overs, in what was a batter’s paradise at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. Their plan of having an all-pace attack backfired as three out of the five pacers that they used bowled at an economy rate of above 10, allowing PBKS to get to a 210-run total in 20 overs.
No spin, only pace! DC opt for 20 overs of fast-bowling only
Delhi Capitals opting to bowl 20 overs of pace marked the first time that a team has done so in the IPL since 2016 and the 13th time overall. This also marked the 5th instance in the league when DC has used an all-pace attack. Mitchell Starc, Auqib Nabi, Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar and Madhav Tiwari bowled 4 overs each. However, they could only manage to pick up 5 wickets while the majority of them were quite expensive.
The last time a team bowled 20 overs of fast-bowlers only, Sunrisers Hyderabad clinched a 15-run win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2016. In that game, SRH managed to successfully defend the 195-run taget by restricting RCB to 179/6 in 20 overs. Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran and Mosies Henriques bagged one wicket each while the economy rate of all the bowlers ranged between 8-10.
DC’s all-pace approach fails to contain PBKS
While DC pacers were quite expensive, it is also pertinent to point out that the side is the third worst bowling team in IPL 2026 so far. The team has conceded 10.25 runs per over in every game they have played so far. In the game against PBKS, Starc was the most expensive bowler, having conceded 57 runs from his 4 overs at an economy rate of 14.20 followed by Lungi Ngidi (46 runs from 4 overs) and Madhav Tiwari (40 from 4 overs). Eventually, the side ended up conceding 210 runs while managing to pick up just five wickets, with Priyansh Arya scoring 56 off 33, Shreyas Iyer getting 59 off 36, Cooper Connolly scoring 38 off 27, and a handy 21-run cameo off 8 deliveries from Suryansh Shedge.
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | NB | WD | ECO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Starc | 4 | 0 | 57 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 14.20 |
| Auqib Nabi Dar | 4 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8.00 |
| Lungi Ngidi | 4 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.50 |
| Mukesh Kumar | 4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7.80 |
| Madhav Tiwari | 4 | 0 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10.00 |
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