Rahul becomes leading run-scorer for PBKS after Faf records his slowest half-century

A scintillating knock of unbeaten 98 by KL Rahul powered the Punjab Kings to a six-wicket win over the Chennai Super Kings in the afternoon encounter at the Dubai International Stadium. After electing to bowl first, the bowling unit of Punjab picked up wickets at regular intervals to derail the opposition. Barring a vital half-century from Faf du Plessis, all the other batters struggled to get going. The Chennai team managed to score 134/6 in the first innings courtesy of a crucial 76 off 55 balls studded with eight boundaries and two sixes by the right-handed opener du Plessis. Arshdeep Singh (2/35) and Chris Jordan (2/20) shared two wickets each and played a handy role in restricting the batting might of Chennai.

In reply, with an aim to improve on their net run rate, Punjab started the run chase in a commanding fashion as Rahul and Mayank Agarwal stitched a 46-run partnership for the opening wicket. Despite the stutter, the skipper continued to attack the opposition bowling unit and smashed 98* off 42 deliveries with seven boundaries and eight sixes to propel the side to a six-wicket win in 13 overs. Here are some of the notable stats from the game: 

Rahul breaches the 3k mark as a wicket-keeper

One of the mainstays in the batting unit of Punjab, Rahul achieved a rare feat by becoming the fastest player to score 3000 runs as a wicket-keeper in the shortest format of the game. The 29-year old recorded this achievement in 73 innings, which is 24 innings less than Quinton de Kock (97) at second. Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Shahzad are joint- third in the list with 101 games, followed by Kumar Sangakkara at 107 matches. 

Faf records his slowest half-century 

On a tricky surface at the Dubai International Stadium, du Plessis anchored the first innings by scoring a calculated 76 off 55 balls to lay a solid foundation for a fighting first innings total. However, en route to this knock, the right-handed batter registered his slowest half-century off 46 balls in the history of T20s. The last time he endured a difficult time was in 2014 against RCB, where he notched up a half-century of 43 balls. In that match, he laid the foundation for a 155-run chase by scoring an unbeaten 54. 

Most 50+ runs as a wicket-keeper

In his sublime knock of an unbeaten 98 against Chennai, Rahul joined an elite list of wicket-keepers in the history of the IPL to record 23 half-centuries, which is the joint-highest along with MS Dhoni. Over the past four years, since he joined the Punjab unit, Rahul has been one of the most consistent players in the tournament, and his record in the past couple of seasons speaks volumes on his talent and skill set. Dinesh Karthik and Robin Uthappa are joint-second in the list with 18 half-centuries. 

Rahul leads the runs list for Punjab Kings

After being picked in the auctions ahead of the 2018 IPL, Rahul has been a lone warrior for the side amassing runs on a consistent basis in the tournament. In the four seasons, he has scored 500+ runs in succession for the Punjab outfit and has single-handedly shouldered the bulk of the responsibility of the side in the batting department. En route his match-winning knock of 98* Rahul became the leading run-scorer for Punjab with 2548 runs in 55 innings. He went past Shaun Marsh’s tally of 2477 runs in 69 innings to reach the summit.  

Highest percentage of runs for Punjab in an innings

Rahul's blistering knock of 98* In pursuit of 135 runs for Punjab resulted in him scoring 70.5 percentage of the runs for his side. For a player with a minimum of 50+ runs, this is the second-highest percentage of runs contributed by a Punjab batsman in an IPL innings. While chasing 68 against Delhi in 2017, Martin Guptill scored a destructive 50* to propel the side to a ten-wicket win. The opening batter scored 73.5 percent of the runs for the side in that match and is on top of this list. 

The KL Rahul of 2018

Though the campaign for Punjab was far from over, the innings by Rahul today should be encouraging signs for India. From the word-go, Rahul came out firing on all cylinders. In the powerplay, out of the 51 runs scored by Punjab, Rahul had hit 38 off those at a strike rate of 211. He reached his half-century in just 25 balls, his quickest since 2020. His knock off an unbeaten 98 came at a strike rate of 233.3. His innings consisted of eight sixes, which is the most maximums he has hit in an innings of the IPL.