Delhi Capitals (DC) batter KL Rahul produced an explosive marathon century to break into the record books, becoming the third cricketer in tournament history to score 150 runs in an innings and registering the highest individual score by an Indian player in the IPL.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Rahul delivered a free-flowing 152* off 67 balls, striking 16 fours and nine sixes against a strong Punjab Kings (PBKS) attack. His innings came at a strike rate of over 226, with visible attacking intent throughout, as the home crowd witnessed a sustained display of big hitting.

He now joins Chris Gayle (175 against Pune Warriors India in 2013) and Brendon McCullum (158* against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2008) as the only batters to cross 150 in a single IPL innings. He also surpassed Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Abhishek Sharma’s 141* against PBKS last year to hold the highest IPL score by an Indian batter. 

Records tumble as fastest DC century arrives

Rahul reached his century in just 47 balls, registering the fastest century for Delhi Capitals in IPL history, overtaking Virender Sehwag and Quinton de Kock’s 48-ball centuries from 2011 and 2016 respectively.

It was also the fastest of his six IPL hundreds, with his previous quickest being a 56-ball century against Mumbai Indians in 2022.

The knock also established a new DC benchmark, going past Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 128 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018 to become the highest individual score for the franchise in IPL history.

Rahul now has the joint-most IPL centuries for DC (2), alongside Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner. He has also levelled with West Indies batter Chris Gayle for the joint-third-highest IPL centuries overall, behind Jos Buttler (7) and Virat Kohli (8).

As per CricViz data, he is the first player in IPL history to score multiple centuries for three different teams, with two each for DC, PBKS and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

He has also overtaken Tilak Varma’s 151 against Meghalaya last season to hold the highest individual score by an Indian in men’s T20Is.

Orange cap shift and DC’s record stand

Rahul now holds the Orange Cap with 357 runs in seven innings at an average of 59.50 and a strike rate of over 187, including one century and two fifties.

He has also moved past MS Dhoni (5,528 runs) to become the fifth-highest run-scorer in IPL history, with 5,579 runs in 152 matches and 143 innings, averaging 46.88 at a strike rate of 138.37, including six centuries and 42 fifties.

In the match, DC posted 264/2 after opting to bat first. Pathum Nissanka fell early for 11, before a record 220-run stand between Rahul and Nitish Rana (91* off 44 balls, with 11 fours and four fifties) powered the innings.

Xavier Bartlett (1/69) and Arshdeep Singh (1/48) picked up wickets but were taken apart by DC’s batting, while Vijaykumar Vyshak conceded 48 runs in three overs