If there were any doubts that K.L. Rahul loves to play against Mumbai Indians (MI), they were put to rest yesterday as he slammed his second century against the Rohit Sharma-led side in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season.

He matched his 103 against them in their first fixture at the Brabourne Stadium, but stayed unbeaten at the Wankhede Stadium as Lucknow Super Giants won by 36 runs. It was Rahul’s third century against Mumbai Indians overall, with him having scored one for Punjab Kings in 2019.

He became the first player to score three centuries against the same opposition in the IPL.

He also became the second player after Virat Kohli to score two centuries against the same team in a single season.

With four IPL centuries to his name, he also has the second most number of tons in the tournament by an Indian, behind just Kohli’s five. Overall, Chris Gayle leads the list with six centuries.

He also matched Rohit Sharma for most T20 centuries by an Indian. Both players have six in total.

Rahul has a mind-boggling record against Mumbai Indians, who are without doubt his favourite opposition.

In 16 innings against the five-time IPL champions, he has scored 867 runs at an average of 86.70 and a strike rate of 135.89.

Apart from his three centuries against them, he also has five half-centuries.

Yesterday, Rahul smashed 12 boundaries and a four sixes in a one-man batting display against Mumbai Indians after LSG were put in to bat by Rohit Sharma.

Manish Pandey’s run-a-ball 22 was the next best contribution by an LSG batter on the night.

Fined for slow over rate

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper K.L. Rahul has been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate against Mumbai Indians in the 37th game of ongoing IPL 2022 season, an official release stated.

This was the team’s second offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences. LSG Captain, Rahul was fined Rs. 24 lakh while the rest of the members in the playing XI were fined Rs. 6 lakh or 25 percent of their match fee, whichever is lower.

“The Lucknow Super Giants have been fined after they maintained a slow over rate during their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on April 24,” an official release stated.

LSG defeated Mumbai Indians by 36 runs on Sunday to go fourth in the IPL points table.

The Rahul-led side has 10 points from eight matches while Mumbai Indians remain rock bottom after losing all their eight games.

In the match between both these sides, LSG batted first and posted 168/6 in 20 overs, owing to Rahul’s unbeaten knock of 103 off just 62 balls.

In his knock, Rahul smashed 12 fours and 4 sixes.

Chasing 169, Mumbai Indians fell 36 runs short as they were restricted to 132/8. Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma scored 39 and 38, respectively, but no other batter was able to stay at the crease for the long haul.

For LSG, Krunal Pandya returned with three wickets while Mohsin Khan, Jason Holder, Ravi Bishnoi and Ayush Badoni took one wicket each.