Jaipur : Delhi Capitals registered a victorious chase, defeating Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets. They pulled off their highest-ever run chase in IPL history, showcasing a brilliant batting masterclass filled with power and elegance by KL Rahul in the 43rd match of the Indian Premier League 2026 season on Friday at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
In this match, Delhi Capitals made a few crucial changes to their playing XI. In place of Dushmantha Chameera, David Miller, and Sahil Parakh, they were replaced by Mitchell Starc, Pathum Nissanka, and Ashutosh Sharma.
The match began with RR won the toss and elected to bat first. RR were pushed onto the back foot early in the innings when Mitchell Starc dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal in the very first over after he scored 6 off 3 balls. In the next over, youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi was removed by Kyle Jamieson after scoring 4 off 2 balls, leaving RR at 12 for 2 in 2 overs. However, the recovery was orchestrated excellently by Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel. The duo stitched together a crucial 102-run partnership. Parag played a fantastic innings, scoring a spectacular 90 off 50 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes, while Jurel provided solid support with 42 off 30 balls before being dismissed by captain Axar Patel. RR looked set for a high total, but the return of Mitchell Starc in the death overs proved crucial as he dismissed both Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja (20 off 14 balls) in the same over, slowing the momentum. However, Donovan Ferreira unleashed his power-hitting and played a brilliant unbeaten knock of 47 off just 14 deliveries, propelling RR to 225 for 6 in 20 overs. DC’s bowling looked much stronger with the return of Starc.
Chasing 226, DC came out with a flawless start. Openers Pathum Nissanka and KL Rahul launched a heavy counter-attack against the RR bowlers, stitching together 110 runs in just 9.3 overs. Nissanka played an outstanding innings, scoring 62 off 33 balls and registering his maiden IPL half-century in just 23 balls. The breakthrough finally came for RR when Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Nissanka LBW.
KL Rahul anchored the innings with a splendid display of class and elegance, scoring a match-winning knock of 75 off 40 balls, including 6 fours and 5 sixes.
With this innings, he became the Indian player with the most 50+ scores against RR in IPL history, reaching eight such scores and surpassing Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, who both had seven. Rahul deservedly earned the Player of the Match award.
By the time Rahul was dismissed by Jofra Archer in the 16th over, DC were already at 177 for 3. Nitish Rana maintained the run rate with a valuable cameo of 33 off 17 balls before being dismissed by Tushar Deshpande. The rest of the work was completed calmly by Tristan Stubbs (18* off 11 balls) and Ashutosh Sharma (25* off 15 balls), guiding Delhi to a successful chase of 226 for 3 in 19.1 overs.
In front of the depth in Delhi Capitals’ batting lineup, Rajasthan Royals’ bowling attack struggled to take crucial wickets at the right time. With this loss, RR remain in 4th position with 12 points, while DC move to 6th place with 8 points. RR will play their next match against Gujarat Titans on 9th May, While Delhi Capitals will face Chennai Super Kings for the second time this season on 5 May.
