KL Rahul blockbuster in vain as Punjab Kings maintain clean sheet

In perhaps the crown jewel of all fixtures this season, Punjab Kings left Delhi Capitals in an absolute tizzy by pulling off the highest successful chase in men’s T20 history. KL Rahul (152* off 67) and Nitish Rana’s (91 off 44) shared a 220-run stand which was astonishingly rendered futile as Prabhsimran Singh (76 off 26) and Shreyas Iyer (61* off 30) headlined a statement victory for the last season’s runner-ups. They remain unbeaten this year after seven matches.

In the first half, it looked like Rahul and Rana had vindicated Axar Patel’s decision to bat first and set an insurmountable task for Punjab Kings, but the form team took on the challenge of chasing down 264/2 – the highest total of this edition – and romped home with 7 balls to spare.

For all of the range-hitting machismo, this game also featured some costly dropped catches. Karun Nair dropped a sitter to reprieve Shreyas Iyer. The benefactor then smashed three sixes and a four in a 23-run over. He also punished Thangarasu Natarajan in the 17th with a four and a six, taking the equation down to 23 off 18 in the tall pursuit. Earlier, Shashank Singh added to his long list of fielding blemishes by messing up at backward square leg. Rahul was batting on 12 at that stage, and went to to clobber his sixth IPL century, and fastest – off just 47 deliveries.

Delhi Capitals stay put at home and have a short turnaround time before hosting Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 27. Punjab Kings, who head back home, have an extra day’s break before hosting Rajasthan Royals.

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 264/2 in 20 overs [KL Rahul 152* (68), Nitish Rana 91 (44)] lost to Punjab Kings 265/4 in 18.5 overs [Prabhsimran Singh 76 (26), Shreyas Iyer 61* (30)] by 6 wickets