KL Rahul stood up and was counted with his unbeaten 75 runs, and was ably supported by Pathum Nissanka, who made 62 and was the initial aggressor of the two. Both these players dazzled in Jaipur. Before that, RR batted first and riding on a magnificent 90 from Riyan Parag and a finish from Donovan Ferreira, who made 47 runs off 14 balls, while Dhruv Jurel made 42 off 30 balls. Mitchell Starc picked up 3 wickets for 40 runs and made sure that RR made 225/6 in 20 overs.
In reply, KL Rahul starred with the bat as he dazzled with his 75 off 40 balls, while Pathum Nissanka made 62 runs off 33 balls. Nitish Rana made 33 off 17 balls, while Ashutosh Sharma finished things off, while Stubbs remained unbeaten on 18 runs off 11 balls. Archer picked up a wicket, but DC won the contest by 7 wickets with 5 balls to spare, climbing to 3rd in the points table.
Riyan Parag & Donovan Ferreira power RR to 225/6 in 20 overs
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi opened the batting for RR while Mitchell Starc had the ball in hand for DC. Jaiswal hit the first ball of the match for the maximum. But the bowler hit back a few balls later as Jaiswal was surprised with the full toss and lobbed it back to the bowler. Starc was amongst the wickets yet again. Dhruv Jurel came out to bat next.
Vaibhav hit a boundary down the ground. But the bowler Kyle Jamieson hit back as he removed Vaibhav, who chopped it back to the stumps. Just 6 runs were added to the board as RR were reduced to 12/2 in 1.5 overs. Captain Riyan Parag came out to bat next. The duo of Parag, the captain, and vice-captain Jurel got together and forged a great partnership. They took the power play score to 56/2 in 6 overs.
Thereafter, they aced the middle phase of the game as well. They upped the ante, with Parag playing the aggressor. Jurel played second fiddle and the perfect role of the anchor player. The duo put on 102 for the third wicket, with Parag scoring and completing his fifty. The score reached 114 when Jurel fell for a well-made 42 off 30 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name to Axar Patel. Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat next.
Parag and Jadeja joined forces and followed the century stand with another half-century stand. Jadeja complimented Parag throughout, but the captain was playing the main role at this stage. The duo put on 53 runs for the 4th wicket before Jadeja fell for 20 off 14 balls with one four and one six to his name to Starc. Donovan Ferreira came out to bat next.
Just one run was added to the score before Parag, the set batter, was dismissed for a magnificent 90 off 50 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes to his name, by Starc yet again. Shubham Dubey came out to bat next. From here, it was the Donovan Ferreira show. The South African finished things off and gave the finishing impetus to the innings. Ferreira was unstoppable and added 40 runs off 15 balls, in which Ferreira scored 30 off them. With the score at 208 after 19 overs, Dubey fell to T Natarajan for 6 off 6 balls with one boundary to his name. Jofra Archer came out to bat next.
Archer got off the mark. Ferreira took charge of the last 4 balls and scored 16 off the final four balls through a combination of 4s and 6s as the Royals ended with a mammoth 225/6 in 20 overs. Ferreira remained unbeaten on 47 off 14 balls with 2 fours and 6 sixes to his name, while Archer remained unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
For DC, Mitchell Starc was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/40 in 4 overs. Kyle Jamieson finished with figures of 1/48 in 4 overs. Axar Patel finished with figures of 1/39 in 4 overs. T Natarajan finished with figures of 1/54 in 4 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with figures of 0/41 in 4 overs. This meant that the target for DC was 226 runs to win in 20 overs.
KL Rahul & Pathum Nissanka’s sparkling fifties help DC upstage RR in JaipurÂ
Chasing a massive 226 for the win, Pathum Nissanka and keeper batter KL Rahul came out to bat for DC while Jofra Archer had the ball in hand for RR. The Capitals came out all guns blazing, and it was the Pathum Nissanka show in the early exchanges of play. Nissanka was the dominant partner among the two and made sure DC had a great power play. The duo took DC to 70/0 in 6 overs. The game was set up from that moment onwards. They continued to score runs quickly post the power play. Both scored fifties and looked good out there.
The duo put on 110 for the first wicket in 9.3 overs when Nissanka fell for 62 off 33 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Ravindra Jadeja. Nitish Rana came out to bat next. Rana came out all guns blazing, even as Rahul was playing the role of an anchor player. The duo added another 61-run stand for the second wicket in 30 balls before Nitish Rana fell to Tushar Deshpande for 33 off 17 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name.
Tristan Stubbs came out to bat next. KL Rahul looked good and dominated the proceedings, and looked good to get a ton. Just 6 runs were added to the tally before captain KL Rahul fell for 75 off 40 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes to his name to Archer. Ashutosh Sharma came out to bat next. The duo of Stubbs and Ashutosh got in and made sure there would be no more hiccups in the chase from here. Sharma was the aggressor of the two, while Stubbs took the game deep.
The duo did not panic at all and made sure DC don’t collapse from here. Ashutosh played a gem while Stubbs also played some great shots as well. The duo forged a partnership of an unbeaten 49 runs off 25 balls to take the game away to the win. Stubbs remained unbeaten on 18 off 11 balls with one four and one six to his name, while Sharma was unbeaten on 25 off 15 balls with 4 fours to his name as DC got over the line in the last over, winning by 7 wickets with 5 balls to spare. They finished with 226/3 in 19.1 overs.
It was a tough night for RR bowlers. Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1/46 in 4 overs. Tushar Deshpande finished with 1/38 in 4 overs. Ravindra Jadeja finished with 1/33 in 3 overs. Nandre Burger finished with figures of 0/41 in 3 overs. Brijesh Sharma finished with 0/35 in 3.1 overs. Ravi Bishnoi finished with figures of 0/28 in 2 overs. So, DC beat RR by 7 wickets with 5 balls to spare. KL Rahul was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
So, RR lost another game in Jaipur. They will have a week’s rest before playing their next game. DC, too, will be playing sometime next week. DC moved upwards to 6th in the table. RR stays in 4th place in the points table. Coming up next, it’s Part 2 of El Clásico, the Greatest Rivalry, as CSK now hosts MI later tonight in Chennai. Both teams need a win to stay relevant in IPL 2026. Let’s see how things pan out later tonight.
Also Read:Â RR VS DC: Riyan Parag & Donovan Ferreira Thrash DC.