NEW DELHI: After a rollercoaster run in their last three IPL 2025 fixtures — a loss to Mumbai Indians, a nail-biting Super Over win against Rajasthan Royals, and a defeat to Gujarat Titans — Delhi Capitals finally found stability, cruising to a dominant eight-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
The spotlight was firmly on KL Rahul, facing his former team for the first time, and the elegant right-hander delivered with trademark composure and class. Rahul played a match-winning knock, anchoring the chase with an unbeaten 57 off 42 balls, laced with four boundaries and three sixes. His fluent innings was a statement — not just against his former side, but also to those questioning his T20 credentials.
Adding to the occasion, Rahul reached a monumental personal milestone — becoming the fastest Indian and the second-fastest overall to 5000 IPL runs, achieving the feat in just 130 innings. He surpassed the likes of Virat Kohli (157 innings), AB de Villiers (161), and Shikhar Dhawan (168), while trailing only David Warner, who took 135 innings.
Rahul found a reliable partner in Abishek Porel, who stole the early show with a classy 51 off 36 balls. The pair shared a century stand that effectively took the game away from LSG. Porel’s positive intent and timing set the tone in the powerplay, while Rahul played the perfect anchor.
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Earlier, Mukesh Kumar’s brilliant spell set up the victory. The right-arm pacer wreaked havoc in the middle overs, scalping 4/34 in four overs, including the key wickets of Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, and Rishabh Pant. His strikes derailed LSG’s charge just as they looked to push past 180.
Despite a solid foundation laid by Aiden Markram (52 off 33) and Mitchell Marsh (45 off 36), LSG stuttered in the death overs to end on 159/6. Axar Patel and Mitchell Starc supported Mukesh with tight spells, while Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with one wicket.
Chasing 160, DC lost Karun Nair early, but the Rahul-Porel partnership took control, and Axar Patel’s unbeaten 34 off 20 applied the finishing touches. Rahul fittingly sealed the win with a towering six over mid-wicket off Prince Yadav.
With this win, Delhi Capitals solidified their second spot on the points table with 12 points from 8 matches — six wins and just two losses.
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, points table and IPL live score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Don’t miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap.
