KL Rahul slammed his first Indian Premier League (IPL) century of the season and his 6th league ton overall in the match against the Punjab Kings on Saturday. The DC opener took 47 deliveries in an innings studded with 12 fours and 5 sixes. He was aptly supported by Nitish Rana who missed his century by 9 runs as the record-breaking partnership helped Delhi post 264/2 after 20 overs. He also created history becoming the Indian player with the highest individual score in the league with 152* with the help of 16 fours and 9 sixes. He is now just behind Chris Gayle’s 175* vs Pune Warriors in 2013 and 158* by Brendon McCullum vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2008. Rahul also raced ahead of Virat Kohli in the Orange Cap race and is currently placed on top of the standings with 357 runs. The partnership between Rahul and Nitish at 220 runs is also the highest ever by Delhi against any team in the IPL. This also the fastest ton of Rahul in the IPL with the previous fastest being in the 56 ball-ton vs the Mumbai Indians in 2022. He also now has the highest individual score for DC, surpassing Rishabh Pant’s 128* vs SRH in 2018. I’m obviously happy. I’ve taken a beating due to the heat, just need to hydrate and recover. So it’s mixed emotions at the moment. I hope I don’t cramp later on,” Rahul said in the mid-innings break. “My strength is always to play proper cricket shots and I was trying to back that and try and believe that that’s good enough to get my team past 250 and I continued to do that. Only at the back end was I premeditating and when the field is set, when the bowlers go to the wide off-field or a spinner field, you know kind of what to expect,” he added. Earlier, Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel won the toss and elected to bat against table toppers Punjab Kings in their IPL game. The hosts, who are at number six in the table, are unchanged from their previous outing and so are Punjab Kings, who are perched atop with five wins from six matches.
KL Rahul slams highest individual IPL score by an Indian player with 152* vs Punjab Kings
