Our Bureau
New Delhi
KL Rahul smashed an amazing century last night against the Gujarat Titans after being promoted up the order, opening alongside Faf du Plessis. Rahul broke several records while scoring a sensational ton against the Titans as he became the first player ever to score centuries for three different franchises in the Indian Premier League. He has previously scored centuries playing for the Punjab Kings, the Lucknow Super Giants and now for the Delhi Capitals.
KL Rahul scored 112 runs in 65 balls with 14 fours and 4 sixes at an outstanding strike rate of 172.30. This was his 5th century in the IPL, making him only the second Indian player to score 5 centuries in IPL after Virat Kohli. Overall, he climbed up to the 4th spot for the most centuries standing behind Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler, and Chris Gayle.
Even though Rahul made history scoring his fifth century, it all went in vain as Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan had other plans as they came out batting their hearts out. Both openers have carried the Gujarat Titans on their backs throughout the season and did the same yesterday. They both remained not out as Sudarshan scored his second ton of his IPL career and Gill ended the match with an unbeaten 93 score.
With a stellar performance with the bat Sudarshan secured the Orange cap with 617 runs in 12 matches. Gill also climbed up the leaderboard to the 2nd spot with 601 runs under his name. The Orange cap race this season has been one of the most interesting races in the history of the league. The cap has constantly switched heads as the tournament has moved forward with Kohli, Sudarshan, Surya Kumar Yadav and Jaiswal constantly bettering each other.
With the Titans beating Delhi in the evening and the Punjab Kings defeating the Rajasthan Royals, three teams have qualified for the playoffs. Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings have qualified for the playoffs. The race for the fourth spot now lies between the Mumbai Indians, Lucknow Super Giants and the Delhi Capitals.
