Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul played a scintillating innings to take his side home against Chennai Super Kings and keep hopes alive of a potential place in the playoffs. Punjab chased down 135 required to win inside 13 overs. Rahul finished unbeaten on 98 as the side won in a canter. However, Punjab are sill dependent on the results of the remaining games having moved up to 12 points.
The Punjab Kings bowlers restricted CSK under 140 on a decent batting wicket. Faf Du Plessis scored 76 off 55 balls while the other CSK batters struggled. Slower balls and changes of pace did the trick for the Punjab bowlers.
KL Rahul Finished Unbeaten on 98
KL Rahul is putting on a show here. When he bats like this, you drop what you are doing and watch.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 7, 2021
Yes. #CSKvPBKS #IPL2021 https://t.co/QbQNUedxiN pic.twitter.com/TmmkuY0kG3
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) October 7, 2021
India needs KL Rahul to play with the same kind of freedom during the T20 World Cup. What a knock…98 off 42 balls… just made the game look easy. Effortless elegance. pic.twitter.com/d07FPIjc1K
— Ashish Magotra (@clutchplay) October 7, 2021
This is ridiculously good batting on a tough pitch.
Someone needs to tell KL Rahul that every inning of the T20 WC is actually 12 overs.— Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) October 7, 2021
KL Rahul this has been a wonderful innings to watch 👏🏼🔥 #CSKvPBKS
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) October 7, 2021
This was a proper slapping shot by KL Rahul. pic.twitter.com/PhfaYApABM
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 7, 2021
KL Rahul becomes the first batsman to complete 600 runs in #IPL2021.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 7, 2021
KL Rahul batting in full flow is a charismatic site! #quality
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 7, 2021
What a knock just unbelievable KL Rahul. Probably the best chasing knock in this IPL along with Pollard's against CSK. pic.twitter.com/ChyajU6JvK
— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) October 7, 2021
This KL Rahul at his Very Best. – What a player. pic.twitter.com/7koF2Pyxrc
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) October 7, 2021
Of course, the no "nonsense" KL Rahul waited for this match. #IPL
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) October 7, 2021
During their chase, KL Rahul’s unbeaten 98 ensured that they finish the run chase quickly with time in hand to boost their net run rate which is now. Rahul, at last, missed a century by just two runs in a run-chase of 135. He takes his run-tally to over 600 runs for the season.
CSK, on the other hand, lost three on the trot after becoming the first team to qualify for the knockouts. They ended the league stage on 18 points and second on the points table. The experienced CSK were completely outplayed by a young Punjab side led by Rahul. Punjab moved upto the fifth position on the points table after this win with the net run-rate still on the negative (-0.001).
“We had a few bad games 2 out of 3 and one we felt like we could have a comeback and that’s part and parcel d in leagues like these, you have to be at your best. Motivation is not a factor, the guys are highly motivated and maybe we need to tune up slightly as to what needs to be done and also a few tosses if they had gone our way. It would have looked worse winning toss and batting on that wicket and I felt the wicket changed a bit, it was a bit challenging but it was a good wicket” said MS Dhoni after his side’s loss to Punjab Kings.
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