India's star wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul was in his elements against the Netherlands on Sunday as he recorded his second ODI World Cup century to help the Men in Blue score an imposing total of 410 runs in the 50 overs while batting at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Rahul scored 102 off 64 balls and took the Dutch bowlers to task. His innings saw him smash 11 fours and four maximums as the Dutch bowlers looked helpless in Bengaluru.
Rahul's magnificent hundred helped him to overhaul Rohit Sharma and become the Indian to score the fastest ton in the ODI World Cup history. Rahul scaled the historic milestone on the second ball of the 50th over as he pumped Bas de Leede over the deep square leg fence for a maximum. He completed his ton off 62 balls and broke Rohit's record.
Rohit had scored a 63-ball hundred against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the ongoing edition in New Delhi to shatter Kapil Dev's long-standing record. Kapil had smashed a 72-ball ton while playing against Zimbabwe at the Tunbridge Wells to create the record.
Rahul was one of the five India batters who registered fifty-plus scores against the Netherlands at Chinnaswamy. Shubman Gill (51 off 32 balls), Rohit (61 off 54 balls), Virat Kohli (51 off 56 balls), and Shreyas Iyer (128* off 94 balls) scored fifty-plus totals to create an all-time World Cup record. It is the first instance when the top-five batters of a team have all racked up fifty-plus scores in a World Cup game.
Notably, Rahul has provided India with a lot of stability in the middle order in the ongoing 50-over extravaganza. He played a crucial 97-run knock and remained unbeaten to take India home in their campaign opener against Australia and has made several other useful contributions in the tournament.
