KL Rahul hit a sublime un💛beaten century to lead India to a dominant eight-wicket victory over a chastened England in the first T20I at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Chasing 160 to win, Rahul’s 101 off 54 balls eased the visitors to their target, captain Virat Kohli completing an emphatic chase with a six.
Kuldeep Yadav took 5-24, including three wickets in one over, as England’s middle order collapsed.
Jos Buttler made 69 and David Willey’s late hitting took them to 159-8.
But🐲 it pr🍌oved far too little as India cruised home with 10 balls to spare.
India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the second g🧔ame in Cardܫiff on Friday.
Heaps of praises for KL Rahul
With the help of 5 sixes and 10 fours, KL Rahul smashed his 2nd T20I century while chasing. He was a great treat to watch and many believ🐼e that KL should get his opportunities across the formats.
Both current and form🌞er cricketers were thrilled to watch Rahul bat. They took it to the micro-blogging site, Twitter to share their thoughts on this blistering knock.
Here are some of the best tweets:
Special touch from @klrahul11. Making batting look very easy. A combination of great ba♒lance and good temperament.
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)
After Kul , KL a treat to watch
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag)
Wha🐭t a phenomenal talent KL Rahul is. So pleasing to the eyes. High time he is an automatic pick across forma♓ts. All class
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif)
Pretty good knock that @klrahul11
— Isa Guha (@isaguha)
Take a 🐻bow 🦋@klrahul11 what an inn champ.. keep going 💪 it’s gonna be tough for England to stop this indian batting line up going forward
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh)
Well bowled 5wickets and well played @klrahulꦫ11 100* congratulation b🌳oth of you well done good show
— 𝕸𝖔𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖉 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖎 (@MdShami11)
All-round performance from the team today..first ’s wonderful spe⛦ll and then @klrahul11’s superb century. Amazing game guys. Brilliant start to the long English tour.
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh)
Special ton from very special player @klrahul11 and was too good. G♑reat start by team India for England tour. Look forward to many more victories
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)
@klrahul11 ..good to see india play Rahul..𒐪he is a must in all formats ..superb innings
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99)
First T20 🏴 – 159/8 (20 overs)
🇮🇳 – 163/2 (18.2 overs)
A fantastic century from KL Rahul (101*) Team India goes 1-0 up vs E𒀰ngland— Saqlain Mushtaq (@Saqlain_Mushtaq)
Brilliant in🌳nings by @klrahul11 !! Congratulations T൲eam India!!
— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops)
Well done Rahul! What an innings!
And well done Virat for making that possible.— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar)
What a wonderful start to the England series for India. An outstanding spell of wrist spin bowling𒉰 from , followed by a brilliant hundred from @klrahul11 . Well begun
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281)
Emphatic. Both performers ꧒have made a strong case to be included in the XI in all three formats. Both are special talent. Kuldeep & Rahul.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
England needs 17 fielders for KL Rahul!
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur)
Oh u made that 100 look so easy…. I reiterate this boy is an All format player. Class and Carnage come naturally to him. India make a breeze of this chase… Hello England … We are not Australia :):)
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani)
India have to ensure that @klrahul11 is taken care of. He is a special talent and just took this game to another planet ♔today. Privilege to watch him play
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
KL Rahul in T20Is:
Innings 15
Runs 671
100s 2
50s 4
Average 55.91
Strike-rate 155.68— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket)
England might b🌌e🌌 winning vs Columbia but quite the contrary at Manchester,KL Rahul just scored a 100* in 53 balls to take India nearly over the line!
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial)
KL Rahul also has to play in the Tests………
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan)
//twitter.com/daniel86cꦅricket/status/1014229021675180033
After this match, KL Rahul has a batting average of 55.91 in Twenty20 Internationals – the highest for any player who has played at least 10 innings in this format.
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket)
K🃏L Rahul registered his 2nd T20I ton yesterday
— betvisa68.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
KL Rahul last 9 innings:
Half century
Half century
Half century
Missed
Half century
Missed
Half century
Half century
Half century— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket)
