Kings XI Punjab's Mayank Agarwal in action against Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah on Sunday.
Mayank Agarwal might have been a test specialist for Indian cricket team but that doesn't mean once could undermine his limited format prowess. And if his 89 runs against Delhi Capitals last week was an example of that, his super Sunday show against Rajasthan Royals have surely given rest of the Indian openers a reason to worry. The 28-year-old was at his lethal best to smash seven maximums and nine boundaries at the Sharjah Stadium to score his maiden century in the Indian Premier League
Mayank took just 45 balls to reach the milestone and was aptly supported by skipper KL Rahul from the other end as KXIP reached 172/0 at the end of 15th over.
With the pitch providing no assistance to RR bowlers, topping that with the small outfield of Sharjah, meant runs were there for taking from the word go.
Rahul and Mayank took good measure of the Royals pacers that was led by Jofra Archer and to no one’s surprise, KXIP were sitting at 60/0 at the end of the powerplay.
Smith turned to his last match bowling star Rahul Tewatia for assistance once the fielding restrictions were lifted. However that brought no respite as a settled Mayank was in no mood to let Tewatia do his magic as he smashed the leg spinner for one huge six and then two boundaries to unsettle his line and length.
This set the tone for Mayank further as he took charge of the ininnigs and soon reached his 50 while KL Rahul smartly decided to play the second fiddle.
Mayank's innings came to an end in the 17th over, when his attempted slog off Tom Curran was safely caught over mid-wicket by Sanju Samson. But scoring 106 off 50 meant he set the pace for Rahul and no.3 Glenn Maxwell to take the team past 200.
