Chennai, Apr 5 (Reporter) A stylish 77-run knock from K L Rahul on his return to the top of the order powered Delhi Capitals to a competitive 183 for 6 against Chennai Super Kings in the 17th IPL 2025 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday. Rahul, who struck six fours and three sixes in his 51-ball stay, anchored the innings masterfully after the early loss of Jake Fraser-McGurk, who was dismissed for a duck in the first over by Khaleel Ahmed. Undeterred, Rahul stitched together a 54-run stand with Abishek Porel (33 off 20) to steady the ship. The Delhi innings gained momentum during the 15th over bowled by Noor Ahmad, when Rahul slog-swept the left-arm wrist-spinner twice for boundaries and Sameer Rizvi launched a towering six straight into the CSK dugout. Rahul brought up his 38th IPL half-century in the 14th over, gently nudging a full ball from Matheesha Pathirana to long-on, raising his bat to the spectators with calm assurance. Just as he looked set to finish strong, Rahul fell to a well-directed short ball from Pathirana in the penultimate over, gloving a pull shot through to M S Dhoni behind the stumps. He walked without waiting for the umpire’s decision, ending a classy innings that laid the foundation for Delhi’s total. Earlier, after Abishek Porel fell to Jadeja and Axar Patel (21 off 14) was bowled by Noor Ahmad, Delhi looked to young Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs for a final flourish. Rizvi struck a brisk 20 before holing out to Ravindra Jadeja at deep cover off a slower ball from Khaleel Ahmed. Stubbs took charge in the closing overs. He was handed a life on 18 when Mukesh Choudhary dropped a simple skier at short fine leg. He made CSK pay, smashing Choudhary for a six over long-on and a four past long-off in the 19th over, adding 15 runs to the scoreboard in a flash. However, CSK clawed back with a sharp piece of fielding from Jadeja, whose flat throw from deep square-leg caught Ashutosh Sharma short in a run-out that followed Rahul's dismissal. Stubbs remained unbeaten on 24 off 12, while Vipraj Nigam finished on 1*. Delhi’s innings also included 6 extras. Among CSK bowlers, Khaleel was the pick with 2 for 25 in his four overs, striking early and returning to claim Rizvi at a key moment. Jadeja, Noor Ahmad and Pathirana chipped in with one wicket each, while Mukesh Choudhary and Ravichandran Ashwin went wicketless. With a quick outfield and dew possibly coming into play, CSK will need 184 runs to secure victory at their home ground...////...