Killing with KLass: Rahul shatters record books with highest score by an Indian in IPL history, joins elite 150-run club

NEW DELHI: An explosive marathon century from Delhi Capitals’ (DC) KL Rahul helped him tear into the record books, becoming the third cricketer to hit 150 runs in tournament history and registering the highest individual score by an Indian player in the IPL.

The flashes of KL’s attacking intent were always present in the matches so far, but the crowd at Arun Jaitley Stadium got a whole fireworks display from the Indian wicketkeeper-batter as he took out all the shots from his armoury to the delight of the home crowd, scoring an incredibly free-flowing 152* in 67 balls, with 16 fours and nine sixes against a strong Punjab Kings (PBKS) attack. His runs came at a strike rate of over 226.

After Chris Gayle (175 against Pune Warriors India in 2013) and Brendon McCullum (158* against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2008), KL is the third batsman to score 150 runs in a single IPL inning, also outdoing Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) star Abhishek Sharma’s 141* against Punjab Kings (PBKS) last year to get the highest score by an Indian batter in the IPL.

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KL Rahul brought his own storm en route to that record 152*(67)

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KL brought up his century in just 47 balls, bringing up DC’s fastest-ever century in IPL, outdoing Virender Sehwag and Quinton de Kock’s 48-ball centuries in 2011 and 2016, respectively. This was also the fastest of KL’s six IPL hundreds, with the previous fastest being a 56-ball ton against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2022.

Rahul now also holds the highest score for DC in IPL history, outdoing Rishabh Pant’s 128* against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made back in 2018. The Karnataka-born batter now has the joint-most hundreds by a DC batter (2) alongside Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.

He has also levelled with West Indies legend Chris Gayle for the joint-third-highest IPL tons, with Englishman Jos Buttler (7) and Virat Kohli (8) at the top. The DC opener is the first player in IPL history to score multiple tons for three different teams, as per a stat from CricViz, with two centuries each for DC, PBKS and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

He has also overtaken Tilak Varma’s 151 against Meghalaya last season to get the highest individual score by an Indian in men’s T20Is. KL holds the Orange Cap now, with 357 runs in seven innings at an average of 59.50 and a strike rate of over 187, with a century and two fifties. He has also overtaken CSK legend MS Dhoni (5,528 runs) to become the fifth-highest run-getter in IPL history, with 5,579 runs in 152 matches and 143 innings at an average of 46.88 and a strike rate of 138.37, including six centuries and 42 fifties.

Coming to the match, DC won the toss and opted to bat first. After losing Pathum Nissanka (11) early, a record-breaking 220-run stand between KL and Nitish Rana (91* in 44 balls, with 11 fours and four fifties) helped DC to 264/2 in 20 overs.

Xavier Bartlett (1/69) and Arshdeep Singh (1/48) were among the wickets, but torn apart by DC’s batting, with Vijaykumar Vyshak leaking 48 runs in three overs. (ANI)