KL Rahul put on a clinic at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday as his unbeaten 98 went a long way in Punjab Kings beating Chennai Super Kings comprehensively by six wickets to keep their Playoff hopes alive. Rahul, who was already the holder of the Orange Cap, widened the gap between him and the player next to him even further by peeling off his 27th half-century.
Rahul's knock ensured that PBKS pulled off the chase in quick time. They needed to chase down the 135-run target set by CSK in 14 overs to go above Mumbai Indians on the points-table and that's exactly the mission Rahul set out on as PBKS got home in an over less. Rahul's knock featured seven fours and eight sixes, with some of the maximums covering a distance of over 100 metres. After the match, Rahul was asked to pick his favourite stroke among them all and even though it was a tough to knuckle down to one stroke in particular, Rahul did make his choice.
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"It's hard to choose All of them hit the middle of the bat and I don’t think I have creamed the ball that sweetly in sometime, so it felt good when the ball was hitting the middle of the bat. But for me, my personal favourite would be off Josh Hazlewood, over square leg. I love playing the pull shot and after getting struck on the head, it was a good response," the Punjab Kings captain said during the presentation ceremony, where Rahul swept almost all awards.
{{/usCountry}}"It's hard to choose All of them hit the middle of the bat and I don’t think I have creamed the ball that sweetly in sometime, so it felt good when the ball was hitting the middle of the bat. But for me, my personal favourite would be off Josh Hazlewood, over square leg. I love playing the pull shot and after getting struck on the head, it was a good response," the Punjab Kings captain said during the presentation ceremony, where Rahul swept almost all awards.
{{/usCountry}}In the second over of the PBKS innings, Rahul was hit on the helmet by a Josh Hazlewood ball. The ball hurried on to Rahul, who went of an attacking stroke but it took the outer edge of Rahul’s bat and deflected on to the visor of his helmet. Rahul underwent a mandatory concussion check and carried on. However, it was almost as if that blow came as a wake up call to Rahul as in the next over, he hit Deepak Chahar for his first six and then tucked onto Hazelwood in the pacer’s next over.
Rahul picked up a couple of boundaries but saved his best of the over for the fifth ball. As Hazlewood landed the ball in the slot, Rahul’s eyes lit up and the batsman launched it into the orbit. Into the empty stands the ball, went and must have easily crossed 100-meter mark distance wise.