Kings XI Punjab recovered from their previous defeat and came out with a remarkable performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The former defeated Virat Kohli led side by a record margin of 97 runs. And, KL Rahul smacked a swashbuckling ton in his just second game of this edition.
RCB skipper won the toss and invited KXIP to bat first. After learning from previous game mistakes, Rahul and Mayank Agarwal helped their side in getting off to a steady start. The stitched a partnership of 57 runs for the first wicket. Chahal dismissed Indian opener on a peach of a delivery that left everyone stunned on the field.
KXIP skipper KL Rahul clicks a record-breaking knock
Nicholas Pooran came out to bat at number 3. And, he kept one end in his hand without trying to go for maximums. Once again, Rahul was involved in a fifty run partnership in the game. RCB bowlers were struggling to get the wickets. And, it was Shivam Dube, who turned the things in the favour of his side. He dismissed Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell in his back to backovers.
Suddenly, RCB made a strong comeback in the game. But, KL Rahul single-handedly took it away from the opponent. He acquired beast mode in the death overs and made the mockery of the bowlers. He amassed 132 runs off 69 balls studded with 14 boundaries and seven sixes. This is the highest score by a skipper in IPL history. Earlier, this record was held by SRH captain David Warner. Rahul also recorded the highest score recorded by an Indian batsman in this T20 tournament. Courtesy, to Rahul, who helped KXIP in managing a mammoth total of 206 runs in stipulated 20 overs.
Coming onto the chase, the KXIP pace attack set the stage on fire. Mohammed Shami and Sheldon Cottrell dismissed previous game hero Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli in consecutive overs. To everyone’s surprise, Ravi Bishnoi took the wicket of Aaron Finch.
RCB was reeling at a score of 3 wickets at 4 runs. Now, AB de Villiers also failed to save his side from facing a humiliating defeat. He scored 28 off 18 balls before he was dismissed by Murugan Ashwin. In the end, RCB got all-out for a score of 109 runs in 17 overs. KXIP spin-bowling attack did an impressive job with the ball. They shared a total of seven wickets amongst each other.
