Delhi Capitals defeated Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets on Friday in the IPL in Jaipur, ending their three-match losing streak.
With a 110-run partnership, the opening pair of KL Rahul (75 off 40 balls) and Pathum Nissanka (62 off 33 balls) set up their ambitious 226-run chase. With five balls to spare, Ashutosh Sharma (25 not out) and Tristan Stubbs (18 not out) completed the chase.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals posted a competitive 225/6 thanks to a brilliant 90 from captain Riyan Parag that allayed many worries about him.
As if his on-field struggles weren’t enough, the Royals captain, whose knock came off 50 balls, was fined 25% by the BCCI after being captured on camera vaping inside the dugout.
The right-hander achieved his maiden score above fifty in IPL 2026, proving that he had a lot to show. The early departures of openers Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (who was yorked by Kyle Jamieson) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (who offered a return catch to Mitchell Starc (3/40), who made his first appearance in this IPL, actually put Parag under severe pressure.
An out-of-form batsman doesn’t exactly want to be 12/2, and his careless wafts against Starc showed how nervous he was.
But after he dismantled Jamieson in the sixth over with a sequence of 6, 4, 6—a pull over mid-wicket and a slice over slips—he regained his confidence. The Royals ended the Powerplay at a respectable 56/2 thanks to a really impressive third shot, an inside out carve over covers for a six.
When Parag’s confidence returned, it was evident in his batting as well; his quick hands and boldness reappeared. A tennis-like forehand six over covers off left-arm pacer T Natarajan showcased their qualities. Parag reached his fifty off 32 balls and added 102 runs for the third wicket with a calm Dhruv Jurel (42).
Even though Jurel pulled Axar Patel straight to Tristan Stubbs in the deep, it enabled RR overcome early blues and advance to a formidable total. However, that hardly stopped Parag as he continued to advance alongside middle-order batsmen like Ravindra Jadeja (20).
After Jurel was removed, there was a small pause, but Parag ended it with a hat-trick of boundaries off Jamieson, including an incredible uppercut.
Before Jadeja was dismissed by Starc, whose maiden appearance of the season gave DC’s attack some much-needed teeth, Parag and Jadeja amassed 53 runs for the fourth wicket. Parag’s attempt to loft him over covers ended up in Axar’s hands when the Aussie struck again.
Donovan Ferreira (47, 14 balls) provided RR the extra runs they needed with a quickfire knock, hitting Starc for a four and a six in quick succession.
