KL Rahul slammed an unbeaten half century as he played a crucial role in Delhi Capitals beating Lucknow Super Giants a the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. Shane Watson has praised Rahul and Axar Patel.
Shane Watson heaped praise on KL Rahul and Axar Patel for putting strong performances with the bat during Delhi Capitals’ win over Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Tuesday, April 22. Chasing a target of 160, Rahul’s unbeaten 57 and Axar’s 34 not-out helped DC wrap the game with eight wickets in hand followed by Abhishek Porel’s half-ton.
Watson has praised Rahul for batting with complete control and being calm and composed. “KL Rahul just did what he does best—batted with complete control. He didn’t need to take risks, just played a steady hand and picked his moments. What stands out is his ability to switch gears—he’s taken the game on throughout the tournament, but today he was calm, composed, and calculated. That kind of flexibility gives Delhi Capitals so much depth,” Watson said on JioHotstar.
The former Australian international also praised Axar for batting with the right intent as per the situation. “The pitch did get better to bat on, but it was Axar Patel’s intent from ball one that stood out. LSG didn’t bowl particularly well to him early on, but he capitalised. It was the kind of innings LSG needed from Rishabh Pant.
“Axar stood up for his team—bowled his four overs straight, led from the front, and made an impact. You can see he really wants to play his part as skipper—something we haven’t quite seen from Rishabh,” Watson added.
Rahul’s knock also made him breach the 5000-run mark in the Indian cash-rich league. Rahul has also become the fastest player to score 5000 runs in IPL, taking 130 innings and breaking the record held by David Warner, who got there in 135 outings.
Earlier, Mukesh Kumar helped set up this win for DC. While LSG were going strong, Mukesh helped stem the flow by taking four wickets in four overs for 33. Mukesh was also adjudged the Player of the Match award for his career-best IPL figures.