Out of form opener, KL Rahul on Saturday shuts his critics by smashing a quickfire 131 against Kerala in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group A match in Bangalore. Rahul’s innings came to at a mere 122 balls as he hit 10 fours and 4 sixes to help Karnataka put up a decent total of 294 in 49.5 overs.
After Kerala won the toss and opted to bowl, bowler Sandeep Warrier left the home team struggling at 30/2 by picking up the wickets of Devdutt Padikkal (2) and KV Siddharth (7). But KL Rahul stood strong and built a partnership of 84-run stand with captain Manish Pandey (50) for the 3rd wicket to put Karnataka on the way of a big total.
KL Rahul later found great support in the all-rounder Shreyas Gopal (31) as they added a 98-run partnership for the 5th wicket to keep the hopes alive of a 300-plus total. But some excellent death overs bowling from Basil Thampi (3/70) and KM Asif (3/59) helped Kerala bundled out Karnataka for 294 with one ball to spare.
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Surprisingly, KL Rahul’s century came on the same day, although in a different format, where soon-to-be Indian Test opener Rohit Sharma got out for a duck against the visiting team South African at Vizianagaram. The performances on Saturday, although, won’t affect both of their fortunes now but Rahul has done his bit to come in the radar of the selectors to give them a ray of hope for the future.
Rahul, who had a poor time in the last two Tests in the West Indies was dropped while Shubman Gill earned his maiden call-up in the Test side for the upcoming series vs South Africa. Rahul, however, finished the Test series in the West Indies with scores of 44, 38, 13 and 6 respectively in the 4 innings. He has also been accused of giving away his wicket in an easy manner and failing to convert good starts into a big one.
Twitterati reacts on his century:
Hundred for KL Rahul. Has accelerated superbly. First 50 off 68, the next 50 have come off just 40 balls. With 12 overs left, a chance to get a daddy hundred. #VijayHazareTrophy
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) September 28, 2019
Responsible List A ton sends a reminder of KL Rahul's quality
👉 https://t.co/QPLhcA7jtF pic.twitter.com/owmlS1YZup
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 28, 2019
Tale of two Test openers! KL Rahul slams impressive century as Rohit endures 2-ball duck#INDvSA #BPXIvSA #VijayHazareTrophy
READ: https://t.co/ZqdpLLHwz8 pic.twitter.com/Ewfvcnn69P
— Times Now Sports (@timesnowsports) September 28, 2019
https://twitter.com/Freak18_/status/1177831148505817088?s=20
https://twitter.com/ViratianAayush/status/1177833620007874560?s=20
