Star Indian and Delhi Capitals’ wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul on Friday hit his eighth 50-plus score against the Rajasthan Royals, to draw level with AB de Villiers. Rahul continued his run-scoring spree
a month into the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League, and this time he smacked the RR bowlers all around the park.
Chasing a whopping 226, Rahul and Pathum Nissanka began on a positive note. The former smacked Nandre Burger for two boundaries in DC’s second over and then cracked a six off Jofra Archer off the next over.
In the fifth over, DC went past the 50-run mark. 70/0 was also the second-highest powerplay total for the franchise against RR in the Indian Premier League after 78/2 in Delhi in IPL 2024.
After Nissanka was dismissed for 62 in the 10th over, Rahul brought up his fifty in the 11th over. The latter is also the fastest to the eighth fifty-plus score against RR in the tournament, having taken just 18 innings.
Most 50+ scores vs RR in IPL
8 – AB de Villiers (20 innings)
8 – KL Rahul (18 innings)*
7 – Shikhar Dhawan (24 innings)
7 – Virat Kohli (33 innings)
After Nissanka’s dismissal, Rahul built a 65-run partnership with Nitish Rana for the second wicket, before the latter was dismissed by Tushar Deshpande in the 15th over.
Rahul’s innings finally came to an end in the death overs, when he was dismissed by Jofra Archer for a 40-ball 75.
Meanwhile, Riyan Parag silenced his critics with a blistering 50-ball innings, guiding Rajasthan Royals to a competitive 225/6. But Delhi Capitals responded in style, with superb knocks from Rahul and Pathum Nissanka helping them chase it down at 226/3.
The Capitals made the best possible start to the chase as Rahul and Nissanka added 102 runs for the opening wicket in less than 10 overs.
Rahul was a bit slow to start with, but once he found his groove, the 34-year-old was sublime to watch.
