![Rabada's dream ball castles Suryakumar's stumps [Source: Screengrab/IPL]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1776696308217_Rabada'sdreamballcastlesSuryakumar'sstumps.jpg?type=hq)
Rabada's dream ball castles Suryakumar's stumps [Source: Screengrab/IPL]
When on song, there is nobody better than South African pacer Kagiso Rabada. In the T20 World Cup, he struggled with rhythm, as the fast bowler was overshadowed by teammate Lungi Ngidi. However, in the IPL 2026 so far, Rabada has been a different beast altogether.
Gujarat Titans skipper, Shubman Gill, has used him wisely in the powerplay, and Rabada has reaped the trust throughout the tournament. His best IPL performance came against the Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Rabada's dream ball castles struggling Suryakumar Yadav
On a surface that assisted the pacers in the early going, Rabada was on point, right from ball one. He scalped the wickets of Quinton de Kock and debutant Danish Malewar, but the ball to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav was the best of the lot.
SKY has struggled in the IPL 2026, and the GT pacer took advantage of the situation. He was taken to the cleaners by Suryakumar, but the right-arm pacer bounced back with a dream delivery.
Rabada bowled a length ball on the off, and the delivery nipped back in to breach the massive bat-pad gap exposed by Suryakumar. The ball hit the stumps so hard that the off-stump and the leg-stump got uprooted.
This was certainly his “ball of the tournament”, as the 152 km/h thunderbolt knocked MI’s best batter with utmost ease.
Also Read: Who Is Danish Malewar? 22-Year-Old Star Who Replaced Rohit Sharma In MI's Playing XI
Why the delivery to dismiss SKY was Rabada's ball of the tournament
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when talking about the ball of the tournament. First, Rabada clocked the delivery at 152.1 km/h, and controlling one’s lines and lengths at this speed is virtually a difficult task.
Moreover, Suryakumar Yadav is a world-class international cricketer who has scored truckloads of runs across the world. Deceiving him is never easy, but the GT pacer made it look simple as he curled the ball back into the right-handed batter, and uprooted not one, but two stumps at the same time.
Also, SKY was looking in good rhythm, as he had smacked the Titans pacer for a four, and a six. Hence, Kagiso Rabada had to be pinpoint with his delivery, and he executed the ball to perfection as Suryakumar was left shell-shocked.
Also Read: Axar Patel To Drop Auqib Nabi? DC's Strongest XI vs SRH For IPL 2026 Match 31
Rabada runs riot in GT Vs MI IPL match
Gujarat Titans skipper, Shubman Gill elected to bowl first on a seaming deck, and the decision paid off as Rabada ran riot inside the powerplay.
The 30-year-old pacer started the bowling carnage by dismissing the debutant Danish Malewar. His next victim was his South African teammate, Quinton De Kock. The MI batter had scored a century in the last game, but the GT bowler ended his innings early in the ongoing clash.
He saved his best delivery for Suryakumar, as the experienced batter had no answer to the deadly inswinger, and he was sent packing for 15 off 10, as the Mumbai Indians side were pushed on the back-foot with three early wickets.
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