New Delhi: Mitchell Starc is all set to open the bowling for Delhi Capitals in their crucial match of IPL 2026 in Dharamsala. But PBKS opener Priyansh Arya has other plans. Off the first ball of the match, Priyansh stepped up and smashed Starc for a staggering 6 over cover score, immediately putting the pressure on Delhi Capitals and setting the crowd on fire at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.
The shot also helped Priyansh enter the list of batsmen in the IPL and hit a six off the first ball of the match. Only a handful of players before him had achieved the rare feat – Naman Ojha against Brad Hodge in Durban in 2009. Virat Kohli Varun Aaron in Bengaluru in 2019, Phil Salt against Nuwan Suchhara in Kolkata in 2024 and Priyansh himself against Khaleel Ahmed in Mullanpur in 2025.Interestingly, Yashasvi Jaiswal also smashed Starc for six in the opening match in Jaipur earlier this season.With this latest high, Yashasvi continues to top the list of most 6-ball first balls in an IPL innings with 4 goals, while Priyansh ranks second with 3 goals.Earlier, Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel won the coin toss and elected to bat first. Delhi made five changes to the starting XI, bringing in Abhishek Porel, Sahil Parekh, David Miller, Madhav Tiwari and Aqib Nabi.Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab handed a debut to Australian left-arm pacer Ben Dwarshuis, who replaced the injured Lockie Ferguson.First ball six in IPL matchNaman Ojha (RR) vs Brad Hodge (KKR), Durban, 2009Virat Kohli (RCB) vs Varun Aaron (RR) match, Bengaluru, 2019Phil Salt (KKR) sails out of Nuvantushala (MI), Kolkata, 2024Priyansh Arya (PBKS) off Khaleel Ahmed (CSK), Mullanpur, 2025Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR) leaves Mitchell Starc (DC), Jaipur, 2026Priyansh Arya (PBKS) from Mitchell Starc (DC), Dharamsala, 2026*Most of the time, 6 balls are bowled on the first ball of an IPL innings4 – Yashasvi Jaiswal3-Priyansh AryaPBKS vs DC: Hit XIKings Punjab: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Ben Dwarshuis, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul (wk), Abishek Porel, Sahil Parakh, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel (c), Madhav Tiwari, Mukesh Kumar, Auqib Nabi Dar, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi.
