Delhi Capitals chase 226 in Jaipur for biggest IPL win as Parag's 90 goes to waste
Delhi Capitals walked into the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Friday night with the steepest target they had ever been asked to chase in the IPL and made it look ordinary. Pathum Nissanka and KL Rahul put on 110 inside ten overs, the lower middle order tidied up the rest, and Delhi reached 226 with four balls to spare. The seven-wicket win is the biggest successful chase in their IPL history.
Parag's 90 and a Ferreira blitz set 226
Rajasthan opened on the front foot. Yashasvi Jaiswal struck the first ball from Mitchell Starc, back in IPL colours for the first time this season, for six, then mistimed the same shot two balls later and looped a return catch back to the bowler. Kyle Jamieson cleaned up Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for four soon after, and the Royals were 12 for 2 inside the powerplay.
That brought Riyan Parag to the crease, days after he was fined a quarter of his match fee for vaping in the Rajasthan dressing room during their last away game at Punjab. The captain built carefully, found his range against the spinners and started clearing the ropes after the powerplay. Eight fours and five sixes later he was 90 off 50, ten short of his maiden IPL century, when he holed out at mid-off off a mistimed lofted drive. Starc, who had returned for his second spell, also took out Ravindra Jadeja in the same over, and Rajasthan looked like they would settle for less than 200.
Donovan Ferreira had other ideas. The South African finisher came in at 173 for 5 and hit 47 not out off 14 balls, dragging Rajasthan to 225 for 6 and turning a par score into something the home dressing room could defend.
Nissanka and Rahul rip the chase apart
They never got close. Nissanka treated the powerplay like an extended net session, racing to 62 off 33 with the kind of clean striking Delhi have been waiting for all season. Rahul matched him at the other end, keeping the boundaries flowing without slogging, and the two put on 110 for the first wicket. By the time Nissanka fell, the chase had been broken in half.
Rahul carried it past the halfway mark with a controlled 75 off 40 before Jofra Archer found him at long-on. Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma walked out and saw the chase home, picking off the spinners as the required rate never spiralled. Delhi got there with four balls to spare.
The win pulls Delhi back into the playoff conversation after a run that had threatened to push them out of it. On Mitchell Starc's first night in IPL 2026, Rajasthan finally found out why he was meant to be the most disruptive bowler in the league. With Rahul and Nissanka opening like this, the rest of the table will be paying attention.
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