KL Rahul steered Delhi Capitals (DC) to 199 for 3 against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, with a splendid knock of 112 not out. Opening the innings, he faced 65 balls, hitting 14 boundaries and four sixes. This innings made him the first player to score centuries for three different IPL teams, adding to his hundreds for Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants.
DC had a tentative start after being put in to bat. Mohammed Siraj and Arshad Khan capitalized on the new ball, maintaining a tight line and length. Their discipline saw 15 dot balls in the opening four overs. Faf du Plessis attempted to break free but managed only 5 runs off ten balls before succumbing to Arshad’s delivery, caught by Siraj.
By the end of the fifth over, DC were at 28 for 1. Rahul then accelerated, taking on Kagiso Rabada with two sixes and a four in the final over of the powerplay. This over also saw Rahul reach the milestone of 8000 T20 runs in 224 innings—the third-fastest after Chris Gayle and Babar Azam.
Rahul’s fifty came up with a four off Rashid Khan, marking his fourth half-century of the season from 35 deliveries. At the halfway stage, DC stood at 81 for 1.
R Sai Kishore ended a promising 90-run partnership when he had Abishek Porel caught for 30 off 19 balls. Rahul, however, had fortune on his side. In the 14th over, three boundaries came through a combination of luck and misfields—a dropped chance and a Rabada fumble included.
An unusual decision by Shubman Gill to bowl Sai Kishore in the 16th over saw Axar Patel exploit his superiority against spin, taking 15 runs from it. Prasidh Krishna then accounted for Axar in the subsequent over but not before Rahul, along with Stubbs, added an unbroken 48 runs off 22 balls, pushing DC close to the 200 mark.
The Titans face an arduous chase with the absence of dew adding to their challenge.
