IPL 2018: K L Rahul's fastest 50 helps KXIP beat Delhi by 6 wickets

Delhi Daredevils have never lifted the IPL trophy, despite having decent squads in the past, and the same goes for Kings XI Punjab, which also have yet to win any IPL trophy

Kings XI Punjab beat Delhi Daredevils by 6 wickets in the second match of the IPL 2018. Chasing a modest target of 167, Lokesh Rahul gave Punjab a dream start by smashing the fastest 50 in the IPL history. From there it was no looking back for Punjab. Karun Nair too chipped in his half century and made sure his team was in a comfortable position. No Delhi bowler could unsettle Punjab batsmen at all. 

After 10 overs

Punjab batsmen continue to rip apart Delhi's bowling. With a strike rate of more than 200, Karun Nair did not let any bowler has his say. Yuvraj, on the other hand, was not able to keep up with the speed and eventually succumbed to the pressure and departed after scoring 12 runs off 22 balls. Rahul Tewatia took his wicket. South African star batsman David Miller joined Karun Nair after Yuvraj's dismissal. By the end of ten overs, Punjab was at 99-3.

Story till Powerplay: Punjab

It was all about Lokesh Rahul smashing the fastest fifty in the IPL history. His convincing strokeplay and power hitting gave Punjab the dream start they were looking for. Rahul slammed 50 of just 14 balls, before falling eventually for 51. Yujraj Singh also joined the party and hit a few boundaries. At the end of the powerplay, Punjab was 73-2.

Kings XI Punjab openers Lokesh Rahul and Mayank Agarwal went after the Delhi Daredevils bowlers right from the word go. Chasing a small target of 167, Rahul smashed pacer Trent Boult's first over for 16 runs. Lokesh Rahul blasted the fasted fifty in IPL history. He did it in 14 balls.
 

Innings wrap: Delhi Daredevils 166-7

Apart from captain Gautam Gambhir, no other Delhi batsmen showed character to score big. Rishab Pant, Shreyas Iyer, got starts but failed to convert them into big scores. Throughout the innings, Gambhir was seen busy building the momentum, which kept falling due to the constant loss of wickets. More than good bowling, it was the poor short selection from Delhi batsmen that kept them from scoring. In the death overs, Chris Morris did free his arms to take his team to a respectable score. Gambir scored 55, Rishab pant chipped in a handy 28, while Morris made 27 of 16. Debutant Mujeeb Ur Rahman ended up with two wickets. Axar Patel went for 35 runs in 3 overs. 

At the end of 15 overs

After the fall of Vijay Shankar, Gambhir found himself in reconstruction mode yet again. Rishab Pant came into bat and went hammer and tongs. Gambhir completed his 50, while Pant hit Andrew Tye for two fours and a giant six. However, in his pursuit to score quickly, Pant hit one high in the air and was dismissed for 28 to Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Rahul Tewatia joined Gambhir and reverse swept Mujeeb for four on the very first ball. Gambhir was run out for 55.

After 10 overs

Maintaining a steady scoring rate, Delhi was at 77-2 after the end of 10 overs. Captain Gambhir was batting at 45, while Vijay Shankar gave him good support from the other end, however, he could not hold for too long and gave his wicket away.

Story till powerplay

Delhi Daredevils was off to a jittery start with openers failing to capitalise on the field restrictions. However, Gautam Gambhir freed his arms in the fourth over, after Colin Munro was dismissed. Shreyas Iyer came to bat after the loss of the first wicket and escaped DRS on umpire's call. Gambhir accelerated the scoring rate with some extravagant shots. He scored 14 runs in the 4th over of the innings of Akshar Patel. At the end of the powerplay, DD was at 45-1.

Delhi has never lifted the IPL trophy, despite having decent squads in the past, and the same goes for Punjab, which is yet to have an IPL trophy in their cabinet after 10 seasons of the T20 extravaganza having already been played.