IPL: The first ever happenings of Delhi Daredevils/Capitals in the league

The first impression of the Delhi franchise in the IPL was them being a team with star-studded players. However, things didn’t pan out the way they would have expected as they qualified to the knockouts in the first two seasons and only twice in the following ten editions.

Until the start of 2019, the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) never managed to win even one knockout/playoff match. Till date, only Delhi franchise has not made it to the finals of the IPL despite being one of the five teams to have featured in all editions.

Here we look the happenings of the Delhi franchise for the first time in the history of IPL:

First ball:

Gautam Gambhir faced the first ball in the IPL for the Delhi franchise in the bowling of Munaf Patel. (Over 0.1 – Inns No.2 vs RR in Delhi on April 19, 2008)

First run and four:

The first run in the IPL for Delhi was scored by Gautam Gambhir who got off the mark with a boundary past the point fielder. (Over 0.5 – Inns No.2 vs RR in Delhi on April 19, 2008)

First six:

The first six of Delhi franchise in the IPL was also hit by Gautam Gambhir in the bowling of Munaf Patel. The left-hander cleared the fence at the extra-cover region for six runs. (Over 4.3 – Inns No.2 vs RR in Delhi on April 19, 2008)

First wicket and catch:

The first wicket in the IPL picked by Delhi was registered by Glenn McGrath who dismissed Taruwar Kohli. The Rajasthan Royals’ batsman hit one straight to mid-wicket fielder Mithun Manhas. (Over 2.3 – Inns No.1 vs RR in Delhi on April 19, 2008)

First maiden over:

The over that saw Glenn McGrath dismissing Taruwar Kohli turned out to be a wicket maiden. It was the first maiden over bowled by Delhi franchise in the IPL. (2nd Over – Inns No.1 vs RR in Delhi on April 19, 2008)

First runout:

Delhi franchise’s Brett Greeves and Mithun Manhas combined to runout Yusuf Pathan in their maiden IPL match. It was the first runout affected by the Delhi team. (Over 3.5 – Inns No.1 vs RR in Delhi on April 19, 2008)

First fifty:

Gautam Gambhir recorded the first fifty of the IPL for Delhi Daredevils in their maiden match. Gambhir scored an unbeaten 58 off 46 balls with 7 fours and a six. (Inns No.2 vs RR in Delhi on April 19, 2008)

First century:

The first century of Delhi team in the IPL came off AB de Villiers’ bat when he scored 105* from 54 balls with 5 fours and six maximums against CSK. (in Durban on April 23, 2009)

First 5-wicket haul, first hat-trick and first stumping:

Amit Mishra registered the maiden 5-wicket haul in the IPL of Delhi team when he registered the figures of 5/17 in his 4 overs against Deccan Chargers.

Mishra also took the franchise’s maiden IPL hat-trick in the same game by dismissing D Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh in Deccan’s 20th over. (In Delhi on May 15, 2008)

The hat-trick wicket was RP Singh getting stumped by Dinesh Karthik; the first-ever stumping dismissal affected by Delhi in the league history.

First win:

Delhi Daredevils/Capitals registered their first IPL win as they chased down 130 against Rajasthan Royals in their debut game with 29 balls and 9 wickets to spare. (in Delhi on April 19, 2008)