Cricket Editorial IPL IPL 2025

KL Rahul hits unbeaten half-ton against former side as DC dominate LSG

April 22, 2025
<a href="https://revsportz.in/author/naman/" rel="author" class="url fn n" itemprop="url"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0ca7e2540cd57c12233c9882996e7077?s=32&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0ca7e2540cd57c12233c9882996e7077?s=64&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' decoding='async'/> <span class="" itemprop="name">Naman Suri</span></a>
KL Rahul for DC (Image: IPL/BCCI)

In a one-sided affair, Delhi Capitals secured their sixth win of the season after comfortably defeating Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets with 13 balls to spare. The star of the innings was none other than KL Rahul, who was taking the field against his former side, with whom he had parted ways on a sour note.

Chasing a moderate target, DC looked composed as they began steadily, with Abhishek Porel taking charge. Despite Karun Nair not lasting beyond the powerplay, DC were able to keep up with the required run rate. KL Rahul, a former LSG player, came out at number three and initially slowed things down.

After Porel reached his first half-century of the season, he didn’t last much longer; however, by then, Rahul had started to take control of the game. He first slog-swept Ravi Bishnoi for his first six of the match and, a couple of balls later, smashed Aiden Markram down the ground for another. With the introduction of captain Axar Patel, Rahul settled into the anchor role while Axar went after the bowlers. Rahul completed his third fifty of the season as he became the fastest player to reach 5,000 runs in the Indian Premier League.

 

Earlier, after a solid foundation laid by openers Markram and Mitchell Marsh—who added 87 in the first 10 overs—LSG’s batting stumbled against the resilience shown by the DC bowlers. Over the next six overs, LSG lost three more wickets while adding only 37 runs.

However, Impact Substitute Ayush Badoni once again came good for LSG at the death, adding some late runs and helping LSG post a total of 159 from their 20-over quota. Badoni scored 36 off 21 balls. Rishabh Pant, who once again demoted himself in the batting order, eventually came out for the final two deliveries of the innings, only to be dismissed for a two-ball duck.

Mukesh Kumar was the standout bowler for DC, claiming four key wickets — Marsh, Abdul Samad, Badoni, and Pant — and finishing with figures of 4 for 33 from his four overs. The victory ensured that DC completed a double over LSG in this season’s IPL.