KL Rahul creates historic IPL record vs KKR, becomes first player to....

Senior batter KL Rahul added another feather to his cap on Friday during Delhi Capitals' home game against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Rahul has been one of the most consistent batters in the history of the Indian Premier League and is currently the fifth-highest run-scorer overall and the third-highest among active cricketers with 5,690 runs in 156 outings.

And on Friday, the 34-year-old became the first batter in IPL history to score 1,000 or more runs for three different franchises. Rahul had previously scored 2,548 runs for Punjab Kings from 2018 to 2021 and 1,410 runs for Lucknow Super Giants – the franchise he had captained from 2022 to 2024 before getting acquired by the Capitals.

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With his knock of 23 off 14 deliveries, in which he collected four boundaries before getting dismissed by Kartik Tyagi, Rahul went past the 1,000-run mark as a Delhi Capitals player as well. He had finished as his team's highest-run scorer last year after collecting 539 runs in 13 outings at an average and strike rate of 53.90 and 149.72 respectively.

Rahul becomes third-quickest to 1,000 runs for an IPL franchise

Rahul went past the 1,000-run mark for DC in just 23 innings, which is the joint-third quickest in the IPL. Former West Indies opener Lendl Simmons had taken just as many innings to reach the milestone for Mumbai Indians and only Chris Gayle (20/Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Shaun Marsh (21/Punjab Kings) have reached the milestone in fewer innings.

As for the ongoing season, Rahul is third on the 'Orange Cap' list with 468 runs in 11 matches, striking at an impressive 180 this season. The former India captain, who had also led PBKS for two seasons, could have become the first batter to cross the 500-run mark this season had he not been dismissed cheaply during the powerplay.

DC, meanwhile, found themselves in a spot of bother after they were invited to bat by KKR at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, getting reduced to 89/5 at the end of the 11th over despite recovering to 55/1 at the end of the powerplay.

Rahul's opening partner Pathum Nissanka brought up his second IPL half-century in 28 deliveries but was stumped off left-arm spinner Anukul Roy's bowling right after reaching the milestone. However, barring Nissanka and Rahul, none of the other Delhi batters have entered double figures at the end of the 14th over, in which the Capitals were crawling at 96/5.

Both DC and KKR find themselves in the lower half of the IPL 2026 points table at the seventh and eighth spots respectively. However, while KKR have won each of their last three games and are eyeing a fourth win on the trot, DC have lost four of their last five matches and are in desperate need of a turnaround.