Rahul’s best innings, says Stoinis

The target wasn’t stiff, the boundaries were relatively small, yet those runs still needed to be scored.

With Chris Gayle gone early and the middle order not exactly in great knick, Kings XI Punjab needed K.L. Rahul to take it home against Rajasthan Royals at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

He did that, in considerable style. The opener struck an unbeaten 84 off just 54 balls to help the host beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets. The victory also put R. Ashwin’s men in third place, further brightening up the playoff chances.

Teammate Marcus Stoinis, who watched Rahul from the non-striker’s end as they added 68 for the unfinished fifth wicket, believes it is his best knock of the IPL.

“I don’t know what you guys think, but I think it was his best innings,” the Australian all-rounder said after the match. “That’s what the best players do — they win the games and that is what he’s done. He understood the situation, he understood the wicket and he batted accordingly.”

About sending Axar Patel ahead of Manoj Tiwary — a move that didn’t work — he said: “Axar has been one of our best players in the last three years. He had bowled well in this game and he enjoys the pressure. So the plan was to give him a chance under the circumstances.”

‘Building partnerships’

Rajasthan Royals’ bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule said his batsmen needed to build partnerships.

“When we don’t have at least one big partnership, it becomes difficult,” he said. “We were probably 20 runs short of a good total.”

He complimented Rahul on his innings but felt his bowlers gave away too many runs in the 17th and 18th overs.

“Unfortunately Jofra Archer and Jaydev Unadkat, who had bowled his three previous overs very well, gave KXIP those big overs,” Bahutule said. “If we could take the wicket of Rahul earlier we would have been in a position to win.”