KL Rahul Scores 152*, Hails Nitish Rana's Knock as DC Crush PBKS

KL Rahul batted at his most free-flowing in years, joining the elite 150-run in an inning club, becoming the third player to do so. He scored 152* in just 67 balls, with 16 fours and nine sixes. He also registered the highest individual score by an Indian in the IPL and in men's T20 cricket.

Speaking after the match, he spoke on batting under Delhi's sweltering heat, saying, "I have taken a beating due to the heat, just need to hydrate and recover. So it's mixed emotions at the moment. I hope I do not cramp later on."

He also hailed Nitish Rana's incredible 44-ball 91, laced with 11 fours and four sixes, saying that Nitish managed to put pressure on the opponents by playing proper cricketing shots on the merit of the ball.

"Phenomenal knock from Nitish. The way he came in, I think when you can hit proper cricket shots and get boundaries in the first six overs and continue to do that, I think the bowling team feels a lot more pressure when you are trying to hit big sixes or trying to slog, then the opposition already feels like they are in with a chance. But when you are playing proper cricket shots and playing merit of the ball and still getting boundaries and still being able to score over 200 strike rates, it just puts a lot of pressure on them. And I think he did that beautifully, and I think the right-hand, left-hand combination worked as well," he added.

KL said that the wicket was on the slower side, but was happy with how he and Nitish watched the ball well.

"We just continued batting and putting pressure on the bowlers. I mean only towards the end was I premeditating. Early on, I think for the first 70-80 runs, I was not really premeditating. I was just in a mindset to hit boundaries and put pressure on the bowlers. My strength is always to play proper cricket shots, and I was trying to back that and try to believe that that is good enough to get my team past 250, and I continued to do that. Only at the back end was I premeditating, and when the field is set, when the bowlers go to the wide off-field or a spinner field, you know kind of what to expect," he signed off.

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