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Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper KL Rahul broke Virat Kohli’s record to become the fastest Indian batsman to 5,000 T20 runs. Rahul took 143 innings to reach the milestone whereas Kohli took 167 innings. Rahul needed just one run to reach the milestone before the match. The 29-year-old could manage only four runs from six deliveries before losing his wicket to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opening bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Rahul has 2,808 IPL runs from 76 innings so far including two centuries and 23 half-centuries. The leading run-scorer of all-time in IPL is currently Kohli with 5,949 runs to his name from 187 innings.
In the ongoing IPL season, Rahul has scored 161 runs from four innings including two half-centuries. He scored a quickfire 91 in the first game against Rajasthan Royals (RR). However, PBKS have lost three out of their four games in the season so far.
“We knew what to expect here. Tried to get used to the conditions as quickly as we can. We were 10-15 short on this pitch. Bowlers tried very hard, but it’s very hard coming into these conditions and adapting quickly. Hindsight is a beautiful thing. We knew they were going to come hard. It’s tricky to have attacking fields. Was waiting for one of them to get out and then put pressure. Wanted to take the game as deep as possible. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get wickets in the middle and that cost us. Every game is important for us and we’ve been in that position. It’s not a bad position to be in. Hopefully, learn from our mistakes and keep getting better,” Rahul said after the match.
SRH beat PBKS at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai by nine wickets with eight balls to spare. Earlier, Rahul won the toss and elected to bat first. PBKS batsmen failed to stitch a big partnership but kept losing wickets at regular intervals and posted a modest total of 120. Khaleel Ahmed picked up three wickets and Abhishek Sharma picked up two wickets. Bhuvneshwar, Siddharth Kaul and Rashid Khan picked up one wicket each. SRH opener Jonny Bairstow lead the run chase as he remained unbeaten for 63.
