Rahul made the most of a pitch where runs were hard to come by as he scored his first half-century of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-20252:08

Jaffer: Rahul’s takedown of Noor was the key for DC

KL Rahul carried Delhi Capitals on his shoulders with a high-quality half-century as the visitors posted 183 for 6 at Chepauk. Opening the batting in the absence of Faf du Plessis, he was able to pace his innings really well and more than that, he took down one of Chennai Super Kings’ main weapons. Rahul vs the IPL’s purple cap holder, Noor Ahmad, was 20 runs in nine balls with two fours and a six.Initially, Rahul (77 off 51) had to take some time to come to terms with a pitch that was dry and therefore prevented the ball from coming onto the bat. He was 25 off 20 with one four and one six at the end of nine overs. But once he decided to pull the trigger, even CSK’s best bowlers were no match for him. He took Noor, Matheesha Pathirana and Ravindra Jadeja for boundaries over the 11th, 12th and 13th overs as DC were put on course for their total. Two of those boundaries were mistakes by the bowler – Noor and Pathirana putting the ball in the slot – and all innings long Rahul was looking for those mistakes.Mukesh Choudhary was taken down as well. He was the only bowler that Rahul took risks against, because he had identified him as CSK’s weak link. Rahul reverse scooped him twice. He took further liberties when he moved across his crease at the start of the 19th over and swept a ball from the off side wide line to the square leg boundary. Pathirana closed the innings with two wickets in his final over, including Rahul’s, but by then the score had reached more than competitive levels. Khaleel Ahmed with 2 for 25 was CSK’s best bowler.