Delhi Capitals chased 226 to beat Rajasthan Royals with seven wickets in hand and five balls left on Friday, as the IPL continues to see a surge in successful high run chases.
Teams have already won seven matches this season while chasing 220 or more. Across the previous 18 IPL seasons combined, teams achieved that mark only five times. The current campaign has broken the record for 200-plus chases with 33 matches still to play.
Rajasthan lost early wickets after opting to bat. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 6 and Vaibhav Suryavanshi made 4 as both fell inside two overs. Riyan Parag rebuilt the innings with 90 from 50 balls, hitting eight fours and five sixes. He had managed only 117 runs across his previous nine matches.
Donovan Ferreira added late momentum with 47 from 14 balls, striking six sixes. Dhruv Jurel contributed 42 from 30 balls. Mitchell Starc, playing his first match of the season after injury, took three wickets for Delhi.
Delhi attacked from the start of the chase. Pathum Nissanka and KL Rahul added 110 in 9.3 overs and broke the target early. Nissanka scored 62 from 33 balls before he fell. Rahul made 75 from 40 balls with six fours and five sixes.
Delhi kept control after the opening stand. Nitish Rana scored 33 from 17 balls, while Tristan Stubbs made 18 from 11. Ashutosh Sharma added 25 from 15 as the side reached the target without late pressure.
Data shows a clear shift in the league. Between 2020 and 2022, teams decided 39.7 percent of matches in the final over. That figure has dropped by seven percent. Teams now finish chases earlier, with 32.5 percent of results decided before the 20th over.
The success rate for chasing 200-plus totals has risen from 14.30 percent until 2022 to 36.70 percent across the last four seasons. For targets above 220, the rate has climbed from 12.50 percent to 21.28 percent.
Delhi’s chase now stands as their highest in IPL history, surpassing their previous best of 210 against Lucknow Super Giants in 2025.
