Lucknow skipper KL Rahul has hit a hundred in his 100th Indian T20 League match against Mumbai in the ongoing game. After winning the toss, Mumbai decided to field first which wasn't not a surprise, given that it has been trend of the season. However, the team had a poor start with the ball as they were hit for 52 runs in 5.3 overs by KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock.
De Kock (24) was trapped lbw by Fabian Allen in the 6th over. Rahul was batting at 18 off 10 at the time. The skipper was then joined by Manish Pandey and both added 72 runs for the second wicket. Pandey (38 off 29) played a handy knock in his comeback game before he got out off Murugan Ashwin in the 14th over.
At this stage, Rahul was batting at 60 off 38, with the team score reading at 124/3 in 13.2 overs. The wicket, however, didn't have any effect on the scoring rate as KL Rahul kept scoring boundaries at ease. He played cautiously against Jasprit Bumrah but attacked all the other bowlers. The Lucknow skipper went on to score his second ton against Mumbai.
He remained unbeaten on 103 off 60 balls, including nine fours and five sixes. Before this, KL Rahul had scored centuries in the 2019 and 2020 edition of the tournament. Early this year, he joined the Lucknow side ahead of the auction. Meanwhile, before the ongoing game, he didn't enjoy a great time with the bat. In the first five games, he could only muster 132 runs averaging 26.40, including a fifty.
With this innings, he has jumped to the second spot in the race for Orange Cap, with 235 runs to his name. Only Jos Buttler from Rajasthan is ahead of him, with 272 runs in five games, including a hundred against Mumbai. Talking about the team score, the Men in Mint Green have put up a total of 199/4, setting a target of 200 runs to win for Mumbai.
Here's a look at how Twitterati reacted on KL Rahul's special ton:
16, 2022KL Rahul is fast becoming one of my top 3 batters in the world to watch!
β Kevin Pietersenπ¦ (@KP24)
KL Rahul is fast becoming one of my top 3 batters in the world to watch!
β Kevin Pietersenπ¦ (@KP24) April 16, 2022
A hundred for KL Rahul in his 100th IPL match.
His 3rd Century in the IPL and 2nd vs Mumbai Indians.#MIvLSG
β Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) April 16, 2022
Sublime innings, KL Rahul. MI will require some chasing this. Hope we can see a Rohit special. #TATAIPL #IPL2022 #LSGvsMI
β Unnikrishnan (@unni1974) April 16, 2022
100 for the LSG skipper.
Well played, KL Rahul π
β Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 16, 2022
KL rahul, Always a selfless team man. Opener, spare wicket-keeper, late-order batsman, reliable slip-fielder, crisis manager and captain-in-waiting. @klrahul11 #MIvsLSG
β Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 16, 2022
Brilliant century #KLRahul. has thrown the gauntlet at his counterpart #RohitSharma
β Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 16, 2022
KL Rahul - take a bow. Incredible capt. π₯@LucknowIPL #LSGvsMI
β Ridhima Pathak (@PathakRidhima) April 16, 2022
KL Rahul becomes the first player to score a hundred on the 100th game in IPL history.#KLRahul #IPL2022 #MIvsLSG pic.twitter.com/K6dSkx3M1x
β ADNAN KHAN (@ADNANKH85410496) April 16, 2022
Rohit is happy for his teammate ππ
β Sivakumar (@Sivakumarsun) April 16, 2022
100 for #KLRahul in his 100 IPL Match
What a batsman he's, captain leading from the front π2nd 100 as IPL captain only behind #ViratKohliπ΅ who holds 5 IPL 100's
Only player to score two IPL 100's against #MumbaiIndians #IPL2022 #MIvLSG pic.twitter.com/uJ4snedkXJ
β ππΆπ΄π©π’π³ β‘ (@TUSHARBAGGA1M) April 16, 2022