Kamal Ghorui
KL Rahul delivered a masterclass with the bat against Punjab Kings, bringing up a superb century to register his sixth hundred in the IPL. The Delhi Capitals opener reached the milestone in just 47 balls, hammering 12 fours and five sixes in a commanding display. The innings, however, could have ended much earlier. Rahul was handed two lifelines, first dropped on 12 by Shashank Singh and then again on 51 when Vijaykumar Vyshak missed a return catch off his own bowling. Punjab paid a heavy price for those missed chances as Rahul made them count in emphatic fashion. At the time of writing, Rahul remained unbeaten and had stitched together a dominant 180-plus partnership with Nitish Rana, who was also going strong on 72 not out. The pair completely took control of the contest, putting Delhi Capitals in a commanding position. Their stand has already rewritten the record books. The unbeaten 185-run partnership is now the highest for any wicket between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings in IPL history, surpassing the 146-run stand between Virender Sehwag and David Warner in 2011. It also eclipses the two 106-run partnerships recorded in 2015.Most IPL hundreds8 – Virat Kohli7 – Jos Buttler6 – Chris Gayle6 – KL Rahul5 – Sanju Samson Rahul’s hundred also saw him climb the all-time charts. He now has six IPL centuries, drawing level with Chris Gayle and moving closer to Virat Kohli and Jos Buttler at the top of the list. In achieving this feat, Rahul also created a unique record. He has now scored multiple IPL centuries for three different franchises, having previously done so for Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, and now for Delhi Capitals. No other player in the tournament’s history has managed this.
