Indian cricketer KL Rahul continues his lethal IPL form in the T20I as he scored his fourth T20I half-century in the second and final T20I of two-match T20I series against the hosts Ireland at Dublin on Friday.
Like the previous game, Ireland skipper Garry Wilson sent the Indian team again to bat first after winning the toss. After missing the previous game, Rahul got an opportunity in this game which he grabbed superbly.
Coming to bat as an opening batsman with the skipper Virat Kohli, Rahul batted superbly. The right-handed batsman completed his half-century in 28 balls with the help of 3 fours and 4 sixes and carried the innings further in his attacking style.
Finally, he scored 70 runs off 36 balls (3 fours and 6 sixes) with the strike-rate of 194.44, before getting caught and bowled by Kevin O’Brien on his very first delivery in the game. Before his dismissal, Rahul put a 106-run second wicket partnership with Suresh Raina, who also batted impressively to score 69 off 45 balls (5 fours and 3 sixes).
In the end, Hardik Pandya also played a thrashing unbeaten 32-run knock off just 9 balls with the help of only four and 4 sixes and that helped India to put a big total of 213/4 on the board at the end of 20 overs.
Coming to KL Rahul, he was in the superb batting form during the IPL 2018. Playing as an opening batsman for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in this IPL season, Rahul was the third most runs-scorer in the tournament who scored a total of 659 runs with the average of 54.91 and the strike-rate of 158.41. Playing a total of 14 innings in that tournament, Rahul hit six half-centuries including his best knock of 95* against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur.
From playing the fastest ever IPL half-century knock (in just 14 balls) to playing season’s slowest half-century knock (in 48 balls), Rahul outstandingly performed according to the situation. While he carried the entire team’s batting line-up on his shoulder, he didn’t get enough support from the other batsmen which denied the team’s ultimate success.
FIFTY!@klrahul11 is on song here as he brings up his 4th T20I 50 off 28 deliveries.#IREvIND pic.twitter.com/R6DP5xCOcv
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 29, 2018
Rahul is a special player…India must find a way to keep him in the XI in all three formats. My vote for him to bat at #4 in ODI. #IREvIND #EngvIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 29, 2018
KL Rahul should be a guaranteed starter in India's T20 team after taking his T20 batting to a new level this year by increasing his attacking shot percentage from 50% to 60%. Rahul is particularly strong against spin: in 2018 only Aaron Finch scores faster v spinners. #IrevInd pic.twitter.com/j72MNgIKOw
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) June 29, 2018
Conclusion of the T20I series: KL Rahul MUST play on current form. Manish Pandey MUST not play on current form.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) June 29, 2018
Rahul in murderous form
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 29, 2018
#KLRahul is such a class act. It's hard to have a strike rate of 200 while being so easy on the eyes. What a talent! #IREvIND
— Shantanu ❁ (@ShantzTH) June 29, 2018
Kl Rahul showing his class once again… Still he's dropped .. Can't understand such a talent is being wasted…@BCCI @cricbuzz #INDvIRE #KLRahul @bhogleharsha #India
— AIMAN (@AIMAN786aiman) June 29, 2018
@klrahul11 just played a wonderful innings just to warm bench in the next match 😏 I hope I'm proved wrong! #INDvIRE #IREvIND #KLRahul pic.twitter.com/2tCnQkItR9
— Raj👒 (@ImBylu) June 29, 2018
Many many congratulation @klrahul11 for 4th International T20 half century 50 runs in just 28 balls well played 👌👏👏👏🤗😊 Now #KLRahul on fire flat six hitting in first ball 👏70 runs in 35 balls 🙌 #IREvIND #INDvIRE #India 🇮🇳
— Prakash..S..Acharya 💥💥💎💎 (@prakashachary1) June 29, 2018
