Fantastic fifties by from KL Rahul (91) and Deepak Hooda (64) powered Punjab Kings to 221 for 6 against Rajasthan Royals in the match No 4 of IPL 2021, here on Monday.
Put into bat, Punjab were off to a bad start as they lost opener Mayank Agarwal (14) early in IPL debutant Chetan Sakariya’s over.
However, Rahul and Chris Gayle had 67-run stand for the second wicket and revived Punjab’s innings. Gayle scored 40 off 28 before getting out to Riyan Parag (1/7) in the 10th over.
Rahul then changed gears and got to his fifty with a six over Shivam Dube’s (0/20) head in the 13th over.
On the other hand, Deepak Hooda who was promoted up the order ahead of Nicholas Pooran, went on a six-hitting spree in the middle overs as hit six sixes in his innings. He got to his half-century in just 20 balls and registered his highest IPL score.
Both, Rahul and Hooda hammered the opposition bowlers on way to to their 105-run stand. Thanks to their monstrous hitting, Punjab added 111 runs in the final eight overs and posted 221/6 in 20 overs.
For RR, Sakariya was the pick of the bowlers taking three wickets for 31 runs in four overs.