Twitter Reactions: KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda's sensational power-hitting propels Punjab Kings to 221

Punjab Kings (PBKS) are up against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their first game of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Entering the contest, both teams gave the chance to the newcomers as RR handed the IPL debut cap to pacer Chetan Sakariya. On the other hand, Punjab is playing three debutants in their Playing XI, including the likes of Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, and Shahrukh Khan.

The match is extra special for Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson as this is the first time that the 26-year-old is donning the skipper hat in the IPL. RR released their regular captain Steve Smith ahead of IPL 2021 and showed faith in the Kerala-star. The toss went in the favor of Sanju and he invited KL Rahul & Co. to post the total on the board.

Put to bat first, the PBKS batsmen walked in the middle with a different mindset as they started hammering the opposition all over the park from the very first ball of the game. The regular opening duo of Mayank Agarwal and skipper KL Rahul looked settled in the middle but the debutant Chetan Sakariya gave the first breakthrough to his team as he scalped the wicket of Mayank, while he was playing at 14 runs. 

Deepak Hooda plays a blistering knock with the willow

However, Punjab didn’t mind losing their opening batsman’s wicket as at number three West Indies explosive hitter Chris Gayle came to bat. He launched an assault on the Rajasthan bowlers as he played a Gayle special knock by adding 40 runs to the scoreboard in 28 deliveries. All this while skipper Rahul help his fort at one end and played the role of second fiddle. 

In the 10th over, Gayle marched back to the pavilion as the young Riyan Parag got better of the hard-hitter. After the dismissal of Gayle, fans were speculating that Nicholas Pooran will come to bat at number four. However, the batting side managed to spring a surprise as Indian all-rounder Deepak Hooda was sent ahead of the West Indies batsman.

The move proved to be a masterstroke for PBKS as both Rahul and Hooda took the opposition to cleaners. The all-rounder played a blinder of a knock as he completed his half-century in just 20 balls. His overall knock read 64 runs in 28 deliveries. Though Punjab stumbled a bit at the end as they lost a couple of wickets quickly, they managed to post a mammoth total of 221 runs. The PBKS skipper Rahul emerged as the highest run-getter with 91 runs while facing just 50 balls.

For RR, Chetan was the highest wicket-taker with three wickets under their belt while the highest buy Chris Morris also scalped two wickets as Punjab ended with a total of 221 runs on the board.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: