RAHUL RAPS RCB
Punjab captain leads side from front with century
Dubai, Sept. 24: K. L. Rahul smashed his second IPL hundred to lead Kings XI Punjab to a comprehensive 97- run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Thursday.
Rahul, who was dropped by RCB skipper Virat Kohli twice, slammed an unbeaten 132 off 69 balls, highest score by an Indian in IPL history, to fire KXIP to 206/ 3.
In response, RCB were never in the chase and were bundled out for 109 in 17 overs.
Rahul, who was dropped in the 17th and then again in the 18th over by Kohli, played the role of sheet anchor. His innings was laced with 14 boundaries and seven sixes.
With his spectacular knock, he surpassed Rishabh Pant to post the highest individual score by an Indian in IPL history.
Playing his 60th innings, Rahul also became the fastest Indian to reach the 2000 IPL runs.
The stylish batsman clipped away a full length delivery to fine leg for four to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record, who reached the milestone in 63 matches.
Opening the batting with Rahul, Mayank Agarwal ( 26) looked dangerous and shared a 57run stand with his captain. However, with the introduction of spin into the attack in the seventh over, Yuzvendra Chahal ( 1/ 25) struck with the last ball, cleaning up Agarwal ( 26) with a delightful googly.
Nicholas Pooran ( 17) and Glenn Maxwell ( 5) once again failed to make an impact as Shivam Dube ( 2/ 33) accounted for the duo. Karun Nair pitched in with an eightball
Rahul, who was dropped by Virat Kohli twice, slammed an unbeaten 132 off 69 balls, highest score by an Indian in IPL history. His innings was laced with 14 boundaries and seven sixes.
15.
The pace troika of Umesh Yadav ( 0/ 35), Dale Steyn ( 0/ 57) and Navdeep Saini ( 0/ 37) had a torrid time as the KXIP skipper was on fire in his second game as captain. All players wore black armbands to honour Australian cricketer turned commentator Dean Jones, who died in Mumbai due to a cardiac arrest on Thursday.