Bengaluru, April 10 (IANS) On his return home, local boy KL Rahul compiled a brilliant unbeaten 93, scoring his second successive half-century, as he guided Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Match 24 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.
On a wicket where batting was proving a bit difficult, Delhi Capitals came up with a superb all-round bowling performance as they quelled a blazing start by Phil Salt and Virat Kohli to restrict Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 163/7.
Chasing 164, Delhi landed in trouble after losing their top half to slump to 58/4 before K.L Rahul scored a superb half-century and Tristian Stubbs (38 not out) guided Delhi Capitals to 169/4 in 17.5 overs to secure a six-wicket win.
With this win, Delhi Capital maintained their unbeaten run, winning their fourth match in a row as they jumped to eight points, only to be separated by NRR from Gujarat Titans at the top of the standings. GT have played one game extra.
Rahul remained unbeaten on 93 off 53 balls, studded with seven fours and six maximums while Stubbs scored 38 not out off 23 balls as they shared a 111-run partnership for the fifth wicket, the highest for DC for this wicket, to seal victory with 13 balls remaining.
DC's decision to pair Faf du Plessis (2), back in the playing XI after missing a match, and Jake Fraser-McGurk (7) failed as both fell to Yash Dayal, who bowled superbly, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, respectively, as the visitors slumped to 10/2 in the third over.
Bhuvneshwar had Abishek Porel (7) edging behind to Jitesh Sharma to make it 30/3 in the fifth over. And when skipper Axar Patel got out for an 11-ball 15, Delhi Capitals were languishing at 58/4 in the ninth over.
It was a far cry from the 53 for no loss RCB raced to in the first three overs. However, Delhi Capitals found a saviour in India wicketkeeper-batter Rahul who played cautiously and then chanced his arms in the middle overs to reach his fifty off 37 balls.
It was a brilliant effort by Rahul. The first four DC batters got out playing across the line but Rahul curbed his aggression at the start and capitalised on a tough chance dropped by RCB skipper Rajat Patidar to keep Delhi Capitals on course for victory.
With a slight drizzle keeping the groundstaff on their toes, Rahul took control of the match, hammered 22 runs off a Josh Hazlewood over, hitting him for 4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 6 in six balls to put Delhi Capitals on course to victory. Rahul sealed two points for Delhi with a six off Yash Dayal.
Earlier, a brilliant all-round bowling performance helped Delhi Capitals reel in RCB after a whirlwind start to restrict them to a modest 163/7 in 20 overs.
RCB raced off the block with Salt and Kohli blazing to the fastest team fifty in IPL history. But things went haywire after Salt was run out and RCB's innings faltered as pacer Mukesh Kumar, and wrist-spinners Vipraj Nigam (2-18) and Kuldeep Yadav (2-17) bowled brilliantly to apply the brakes.
It developed into a cat-and-mouse game as every time RCB tried to break the shackles, DC would come back to thwart them. The home side raced to 53/0 in the first three overs and then could manage only 74/7 in the next 15 overs. Tim David hammered some big ones in the last two overs, which bought RCB 36 runs, to bring some respectability to the total.
It was a power-play of two halves -- RCB racing to 53 in the first three overs and DC pulling things back with an 11/2 haul in the next three.
After a modestly quiet first over (7 runs) by Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli went hammer and tongs at the bowling reaching the fastest team fifty-ever in IPL inside the third over. Axar Patel's second over cost 16 runs, two fours, and one six shared by the batters.
English opener Salt waded into Australian pacer Starc in the third over, blasting him for 30 runs, hitting 6, 4, 4, 5nb, 6 followed by five leg byes in two balls as RCB reached 53/0 in three overs.
Kohli hit Axar for a six in the fourth over but the left-arm spinner silenced RCB's vociferous supporters as Salt was run out going for a difficult single as Kohli took a start and then stopped. Salt, who slipped while attempting to gain ground, was run out for 37 off 17 balls.
That wicket changed the complexion of the match as Devdutt Padikkal (1) got out in a wicket-maiden over by Mukesh Kumar.
Kohli fell in the next over as he tried to break the shackles. After hitting Vipraj Nigam for a six, Kohli attempted another big one but managed to find Starc as he failed to reach the ball for an inside-out shot as RCB slumped to 74/3.
Though skipper Rajat Patidar kept the scoreboard going from one end, Liam Livingstone (3) and Jitesh Sharma (3) fell in quick succession and RCB were soon down to 102/5 in the 13th over.
Patidar and Krunal Pandya tried to repair the innings but the skipper skied one behind to keeper Rahul trying to hit over square, getting out for 25 off 23 balls. Pandya made a run-a-ball 18.
Singapore-born Australian dasher Tim David hammered 36 runs in the last two overs bowled by Axar Patel (17) and Mukesh Kumar (19 runs), hitting four sixes and two fours as RCB managed to cross the 150-run mark. Tim David ended unbeaten on 37 off 20 balls to provide a final push to the innings.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 163/7 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 37, Tim David 37 not out; Vipraj Nigam 2-18, Kuldeep Yadav 2-17) lost to Delhi Capitals 169/4 in 17.5 overs (K.L Rahul 93 not out, Tristan Stubbs 38 not out; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-26) by six wickets
