KL Rahul shone in his promotion to the opener’s role by slamming a majestic unbeaten 112, guiding the Delhi Capitals to a commanding 199/3 in their 20 overs against the Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
On a slightly slower pitch, Rahul was at his clean and pristine best with his strokeplay, especially while hitting through the line to score 112* off just 65 balls – his fifth IPL century. His spectacular knock included 14 fours and four sixes. With this, Rahul also became the first-ever batter to score IPL centuries for three different teams, having previously achieved the feat with Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants.
Apart from being the driving force behind the innings, Rahul finished strongly to ensure DC posted a total that could challenge GT’s potent top order. He found solid support from other batters – Abishek Porel sizzled with a 19-ball 30, skipper Axar Patel hit two fours and a six in his 16-ball 25, and Tristan Stubbs was unbeaten on 21 off 10 balls.
Sent in to bat first, Rahul got off to a quick start, finding two boundaries in the opening over bowled by Mohammed Siraj – one via a misfield at deep third man and the other through a crisp backfoot cut past point. With Faf du Plessis struggling for timing against GT’s pacers and eventually holing out to mid-on off Arshad Khan, Rahul took charge.
When Siraj pitched short and outside off, Rahul quickly cut past backward point and pulled over mid-on for back-to-back boundaries. Against a returning Kagiso Rabada, Rahul was in top form – moving across slightly to get inside the line of a short ball, which he swiveled across square leg for a six.
Two balls later, Rabada offered width and Rahul, who also became the fastest Indian and third overall by innings to complete 8000 runs in men’s T20s, reached out to carve him over point, before standing tall to launch the pacer for a towering six down the ground. DC closed the powerplay at 45/1, with 17 runs coming off the final over.
Rahul continued rotating the strike effectively against Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan, before sweeping the latter for a boundary to bring up his fifty off 35 balls, as chants of his name echoed around the stadium. He enjoyed a bit of luck too, as R Sai Kishore couldn’t reach a top edge on the sweep, resulting in another four.
Rahul left the crowd stunned when he backed away to loft a half-volley straight down the ground for six. He then went after Kishore with a hat-trick of boundaries – a straight drive through the bowler’s legs, a flick parried over the boundary by Rabada, and an edge past the vacant first slip.
Despite a limited strike in the final four overs, Rahul unleashed a lofted off-drive for six off Prasidh, then pulled him to bring up his century, soaking in the applause from a joyous home crowd. He applied the finishing touches by reverse-paddling and driving Siraj for two more boundaries, setting GT a steep chase.- IANS
