King-sized Rahul revels, RCB shrivels
Skipper KL Rahul smashed the first century of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) to propel Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to a daunting 206 for three against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) here on Thursday. That hurricane knock laid the foundation for his team to record a thumping 97-run win.
By : migrator
Update: 2020-09-24 22:37 GMT
Dubai
RCB was all out for a paltry 109, with the leg-spin duo of Murugan Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi scalping three wickets apiece. Rahul, who was dropped in the 17th and then again in the 18th over by RCB skipper Virat Kohli, played the role of sheet anchor, scoring 132 off 69, an innings laced with 14 boundaries and seven sixes.
Opening the batting with Rahul, Mayank Agarwal (26) looked dangerous and shared a 57-run stand. However, Yuzvendra Chahal (1/25) cleaned him up in the seventh over. Nicholas Pooran (17) and Glenn Maxwell (5) once again failed to make an impact as Shivam Dube (2/33) accounted for the pair. Karun Nair pitched in with an eight-ball 15.
In reply, RCB’s challenge fizzled out as it got off to a wretched start, losing its first three wickets, including Kohli, with just four runs on the board. Sheldon Cottrell had a hand in two of those dismissals, while speedster Mohammed Shami got the other. Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers stitched a 49-run partnership off 31 balls and raised the team’s 50 in 7.2 overs before the former was castled by Bishnoi for 20 (21b, 3x4).
de Villiers was next to follow. He was caught by Sarfaraz Khan off Ashwin. At 57 for five, and with not much batting to follow, RCB’s fate was sealed. Bishnoi ended up with impressive figures of three for 32.
NUMBER GAME
- 2 KL Rahul was dropped twice at the end of his innings by Virat Kohli. It proved to be costly as KXIP scored 49 runs off the last two overs
- 60 With the ton against RCB, KL Rahul (60 innings) became the fastest Indian to reach 2,000 runs in IPL. He surpassed Sachin Tendulkar, who got there in 63 innings
- 132* KL Rahul’s hundred is the highest individual score by a captain in IPL history
BRIEF SCORES: Kings XI Punjab 206/3 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 132*, M Agarwal 26) bt RCB 109 in 17 overs (W Sundar 30, AB de Villiers 28, M Ashwin 3/21, R Bishnoi 3/32).
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