Rahul shines as Delhi Capitals bag fourth straight win in IPL
BENGALURU: KL Rahul smashed an unbeaten 93 as Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets to maintain their winning streak in the Indian Premier League on Thursday. Rahul, 32, hit six sixes and seven fours in his scintillating 53-ball knock to help Delhi overhaul Bengaluru’s 163-7 with 13 balls to spare at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Tristan Stubbs chipped in with 38 not out and shared 111 runs with Rahul off just 56 balls to steer Delhi to their fourth consecutive win. Delhi now sit second in the table while Bengaluru are third in the 10-team competition. Bengaluru bowlers picked some early wickets but ran into the in-form Rahul who batted with composure and ease. Delhi had a wobbly start, losing openers Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk cheaply with just 10 runs on the board. Captain Axar Patel tried to steady the innings but holed out to Tim David off impact sub Suyash Sharma for 15. Stubbs said the win was “really satisfying.” “I came in a tricky situation, but the run-rate never got out of hand,” he said. “I did not need to do much — KL played the way he did.” Earlier, Bengaluru were off to a flier, with openers Virat Kohli and Phil Salt taking the attack to the opposition. The duo smashed 30 runs in the third over off Mitchell Starc before guiding Bengaluru to the fastest team 50 of the season. The batting assault ended when Salt (37) was run-out after a mix-up and Kohli (22) lobbed a catch to Starc who dived forward to take a fine catch at long-off. Salt hit three sixes and four fours in his 17-ball knock. Bengaluru lost regular wickets after the twin setbacks, with Delhi left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav picking two, including the scalp of captain Rajat Patidar for 25. David