Starc inspires Delhi Capitals to a tense IPL win against Rajasthan in super over

NEW DELHI, India (AP) — Fast bowler Mitchell Starc inspired table-toppers Delhi Capitals to a tense victory in the super over against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.

Starc forced the game into the super over with a brilliant eight-run 20th over as Rajasthan finished at 188-4 in reply to Delhi’s 188-5.

Two run-outs in Starc’s super over limited Rajasthan to 11-2 before Lokesh Rahul and Tristan Stubbs smashed Sandeep Sharma’s first four balls for 13 runs and took Delhi on top of the points table with five wins from six games.

Rajasthan has plenty to catch-up as they dropped to No. 8 with just two wins from seven games.

Rajasthan seemed to have controlled the chase until Starc nailed a perfect yorker to half century-maker Nitish Rana (51) in the 18th over and had the left-hander plumb leg before wicket.

Starc bowled four more yorkers in the final over and with two needed on the final ball, Dhruv Jurel drove Starc to mid-wicket but got run out while going for the winning run.

Rajasthan had an injury scare when their captain Sanju Samson walked off with a side strain after he had provided a brisk start with Yashasvi Jaiswal (51).

Samson clutched his left side in pain after hitting three sixes and two boundaries in his 19-ball knock of 31 balls as he walked off in the sixth over with Rajasthan cruising to 61-0.

Delhi captain Axar Patel finally got his first wicket of the season when he clean bowled Riyan Parag for 12 and Jaiswal holed out at long-on soon after completing his third half century of the season.

Patel should have dismissed Rana on 20 in the 15th over but Stubbs dropped a sitter at long-on before Rana eased the target by smashing Kuldeep Yadav for a six and a four in the next over.

However, Starc turned the tide in his return spell with flurry of yorkers and pushed the game into the super over.

Opening batter Abishek Porel smashed fast bowler Tushar Deshpande for four boundaries and a six in the second over but Jake Fraser-McGurk’s poor season continued when he holed out in Jofra Archer’s second over after scoring nine off six balls.

Rahul and Porel put on 63 runs off 57 balls, but the slowness of the wicket didn’t allow them to accelerate against either spin or pace.

Rahul was eventually dismissed in the 13th over when he pulled Archer to mid-wicket where Shimron Hetmyer took a good low catch and Porel got dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga when he holed out at long-off after scoring 49 off 37 balls as Delhi slipped to 4-105.

But Patel and Stubbs provided late flurry by contributing 34 runs each. Axar countercharged against Hasaranga and smashed 34 off 14 balls while Stubbs, dropped on 18 off Hasaranga, consumed 18 balls for his unbeaten 34 as the last three overs provided Delhi 42 runs.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Delhi Capitals' KL Rahul plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Abishek Porel plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between New Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Ashutosh Sharma plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rajasthan Royals' Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after scoring fifty runs during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rajasthan Royals' Yashasvi Jaiswal plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Kuldeep Yadav (23) is congratulated by captain Axar Patel after taking the wicket of Rajasthan Royals' Yashasvi Jaiswal during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rajasthan Royals' Nitish Rana bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rajasthan Royals' Nitish Rana plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Rajasthan Royals' Shimron Hetmyer reacts during the super over of the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Mitchell Starc breaks the stumps to run-out Rajasthan Royals' Riyan Parag during the super over of the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Mitchell Starc, right, celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of Rajasthan Royals' Dhruv Jurel during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)