Ajinkya Rahane surpasses Chris Gayle to become 9th highest IPL run getter

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane on Sunday surpassed former left-hand batter Chris Gayle to become the ninth-highest run scorer in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the 53rd encounter of the ongoing 18th edition of the cash-rich league.

Rahane scored 30 runs from 24 balls, which was laced with two maximums and one boundary in his innings. With this knock, the right-hand batter surpassed Chris Gayle and achieved this landmark.

So far in the history of IPL, Ajinkya Rahane has slammed 4969 runs in 181 innings at a strike rate of 124.72 and an average of 30.48 with the help of 33 fifties and two centuries. His best score in this league is 105*.

On the other hand, Chris Gayle has smashed 4965 runs in 141 IPL innings before retiring in 2021. The southpaw scored these runs at a strike rate of 148.96 and an average of 39.72 with the help of six tons and 31 half-centuries.

Coming to the match, KKR won the toss and opted to bat first.

After Sunil Narine was dismissed cheaply, a half-century stand between skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and a six) steadied the ship. A 61-run stand for the fourth wicket between Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 in 31 balls, with five fours) and Andre Russell (57* in 25 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes) gave the innings much-needed speed. Russell and Rinku (19* in six balls, with a four and two sixes) took KKR to 206/4 in their 20 overs.

Jofra Archer, Yudhvir Singh, Riyan, and Maheesh Theekshana each took wickets.

During the run-chase of 207 runs, RR was 71/5, but a 92-run stand between skipper Riyan Parag (95 in 45 balls, with six fours and eight sixes) and Shimron Hetmyer (29 in 23 balls, with a four and six) gave them a massive chance. Despite fireworks from Shubham Dubey (25* in 14 balls, with a four and two sixes) and Jofra Archer (12 in eight balls, with a four), RR fell short by a run, finishing at 205/8 in their 20 overs.

Varun Chakravarthy (2/32), Harshit Rana (2/41) and Moeen Ali (2/43) were the top wicket-takers for KKR.