IPL 2018: KL Rahul’s record half-century rocks Delhi Daredevils
KL Rahul struck the fastest fifty in IPL against Delhi Daredevils to give Kings XI Punjab a flying start in their opener.
Who needs Chris Gayle!! With the West Indian watching from the sidelines, KL Rahul managed to deliver a knock which simply rocked Delhi.
His 14-ball half-century, fastest in IPL, left Delhi Daredevils bowlers reeling in their defence off 166.
Facing Trent Boult, Rahul managed a double of the first three balls and then opened up, hammering a six and two consecutive fours. the momentum and the field being up egged Rahul on to go for the shots as boisterous Sunday crowd sensing something big backed the KXIP.
He wasn’t finished by no means as Mohammed Shami was met a similar treatment. A six over fine leg as followed by a four through the square leg as Rahul raced to 27 off just nine balls.
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Skipper Gautam Gambhir tried taking the pace off the ball introducing Amit Mishra into the attack. Rahul determined to make the most hit three fours and two sixes to take 24 runs of the over and also raise his fastest IPL fifty.
After driving Mishra for a four off the first ball, Rahul had ample time to dispatch the next short pitch delivery for a six.
With bowlers under pressure, Rahul picked gaps at will as Kings raced to 51 in just three overs.
Rahul slapped two more fours and was finally dismissed at 51 off 16 balls caught by Shami off Boult to bring much needed relief to DD bowlers. But by then KXIP had already scored 64 in five overs needing just 103 more to win .