India, April 18 -- Delhi Capitals batter KL Rahul admitted there was some assistance for the bowlers on the M Chinnaswamy Stadium surface in the first few overs, making it tough for the batters early on. The star batter, celebrating his 34th birthday, produced a fine half-century in the chase to steady DC after they lost three wickets early in reply to RCB's 175/8. Rahul brought much-needed calm to the innings after Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck with the new ball to put Delhi on the back foot.

Rahul also pointed out that RCB openers Virat Kohli and Phil Salt found it difficult to get going early on, with the ball not coming onto the bat as nicely as they would have liked. While DC suffered a similar fate or even worse, with three wickets insi...