Rahul's 14-ball fifty blows away Delhi, KXIP off to a winning start
Delhi Daredevils have posted 166 for 7 riding on Gambhir's 55 off 42 balls against kings Xi Punjab at Mohali.
KL Rahul hit the fastest IPL fifty off just 14 balls and Karun Nair took charge after Rahul’s departure as Kings XI Punjab registered an easy six-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in Mohali
Chasing a target of 167, Kings XI reached 52 at the end of 3 overs, of which Rahul had scored 51. Opening partner Mayank Agarwal was mere spectator at the other end scoring only 1 run.
Rahul hit four sixes and six fours, smashing literally Delhi leggie Amit Mishra for 24 runs in the third over of the innings. Rahul also became the only batsman to reach his half-century inside the first three overs of the innings.
KL Rahul scores the fastest ever VIVO #IPL fifty! 🔥
— Hotstar Canada (@hotstarcanada) April 8, 2018
Keep watching #KXIPvDD here: https://t.co/FENLswvONY#DestinationForCricket pic.twitter.com/BdZQzoH0my
Rahul was out for 51 trying to attempt a cute lap shot off Trent Boult but then he had already given Kings XI their best start in the history of IPL.
Rahul’s Karnataka teammate then took over from him and scored off 33 balls but like Rahul, he too fell immediately after reaching his fifty. By then, Kings XI had placed themselves in a strong situation.
The pair of Marcus Stoinis and David Miller then kept their calm and reached the target in 18.5 overs.
Delhi Daredevils innings
Gautam Gambhir strengthened his position as one of the IPL greats by registering a record 36th fifty to take Delhi Daredevils to 166 for 7 after being invited to bat by Kings XI Punjab.
Gambhir scored 55 off 42 balls and became the joint record holder with Australia’s David Warner for the most number of fifties in IPL.
Daredevils though struggled to up the ante after Gambhir’s dismissal as the Kings Xi spinners, led by the youngest player of IPL, Mujeeb Rahman, picked up wickets in regular intervals to hold their charge.
In the end some decent hitting by Chris Morris (27 off 16) enabled them to get to 166, which is decent total, considering the fact that they lost wickets in clusters in the middle overs.
Gambhir, making a comeback to his home team, made a strong statement in his very first appearance, motoring his way through a host of Kings XI spinners, including their captain and seasoned campaigner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Delhi lost opener Munro early to 17-yr-old Mujeeb Rahman when attempted an ambitious reverse sweep and since then Gambhir took charge, hitting Axar Patel for a couple of fours and a six in the very next over.
In a surprising move, Kings XI captain Ashwin introduced all his spinners, including himself in the first four overs of the game.
Axar though, came roaring back by picking up the important wicket of Shreays Iyer for 11. The problem for Delhi had just started by then. The move to send Vijay Shankar ahead of Pant and Morris did not go according to plan as the all-rounder struggled his to a run-a-ball 13 before getting out to Mohit Sharma.
To Gambhir’s relief, Pant came out firing with all cylinders, targeting Kings XI’s premiere seamer Andrew Tye.
Just when Pant was looking to take the game away from Kings XI, Mujeeb removed with a little help from Tye, who took a terrific catch.
Between the 13th and the 16th over, Delhi then lost three wickets, including that of Gambhir as Kings XI dashed their hopes of setting a total in excess of 175.
TOSS REPORT
Kings XI Punjab won the toss and invited Delhi Daredevils to bat first in the second match of IPL 11 at Mohali. In a bold move, the hosts have decided to drop West Indian talismatic batsman Chris Gayle and have picked rookie spinner Mujeed Ur Rahman.
The 17-year-old Afghan spinner Mujeeb becomes the youngest cricketer to make his IPL debut. In his 15 ODIs for Afghanistan he has taken 35 wickets at a staggering average of 16.65.
Kings XI have a completely revamped team of their own with a new captain in R Ashwin, who is the most capped player before leading an IPL side.
"It is a good wicket, we'll look to chase down whatever total they get. The experience of being a captain is new, I'm a little nervous but will try and do a good job," said Ashiwn.
.@lionsdenkxip Captain @ashwinravi99 wins the toss and elects to field first at Mohali.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2018
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The four foreigners for Kings XI are Stoinis, Mujeeb, Tye and Miller.
Delhi have gone in with a set team with Christian, Munro, Boult and Morris as their four overseas players. KL Rahul will take the gloves. Interstingly, there is no Sandeep Sharma, who was retained by them using RTM.
"Feels good to be back, representng my home team. Hopefully I can bring the same momentum as I did in Kolkata," said Delhi skipper, Gautam Gambhir.
Delhi Daredevils (Playing XI): Gautam Gambhir(c), Colin Munro, Rishabh Pant(w),Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Vijay Shankar, Daniel Christian, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami
Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
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