IPL 2018: KL Rahul excited after grand start for KXIP

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) commenced proceedings with a thumping victory against the Delhi Daredevils in their opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Their bowlers restricted the Daredevils on a pitch which was an absolute belter. Punjab’s run chase turned out to be one-sided, to say the least courtesy of some brutal hitting by the top order.

KL Rahul opened the batting along with Mayank Agarwal and the duo peppered the boundaries with sheer disparagement. Rahul has been excellent for India in the T20 format and he manifested the reasons why he is regarded as a class act. During his knock, he didn’t die wondering and haemorrhaged runs in the power-play, much to the agony of Gautam Gambhir’s men.

The onslaught by KL Rahul

The Karnataka batsman was severe on the Delhi bowlers, especially Amit Mishra, who had been carted away for 24 runs in the third over. He accomplished his half-century in the same over, which took the sting out of the Delhi attack and laid the platform for Punjab’s run-chase. En route his master-class, he also achieved the fastest fifty in the history of the T20 league.

He broke Yusuf Pathan’s and Sunil Narine’s record in 15 balls, which they racked up against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. Rahul was eventually dismissed by Trent Boult, the New Zealand pacer, when a leading edge of his willow traced into the hands of Mohammed Shami, patrolling the short third-man region.

After his dismissal, sanity returned to proceedings as the Punjab batsman slowed down somewhat. Nevertheless, the required rate was dragged down significantly by then, much to the comfort of the Punjab franchise. Quite expectantly, Rahul sounded animated after the game and he later took to Twitter and shared an inspiring message for his new franchise. He wrote

“Well Begun Is Half Done! Loved every moment of being out there in the middle! @lionsdenkxip #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi”

Here is the tweet

Well Begun Is Half Done!
Loved every moment of being out there in the middle!??@lionsdenkxip #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi pic.twitter.com/O1pUv8V1jU

— K L Rahul (@klrahul11) April 9, 2018

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