Throwback To When KL Rahul Smacked 123 At Centurion To Win It For India

image-lqnmzonfKL Rahul celebrating his seventh Test century in December 2021 at Centurion (x.com)

KL Rahul landed 101 punches against South Africa at Centurion in their series-opener in December 2023 to guide India towards a competitive first-innings total. 

Batting at number six and arriving to the crease after his side slumped to 92-4 at the launch of the afternoon session, the 31-year-old cautiously crafted handy runs upfront before going berserk with the tail in his boundary-laden knock.

Remarkably, Rahul’s special ton was not his first century within the pace-friendly conditions of the hostile SuperSport surface, considering the cricketer had also smacked an imperial 123 during India’s previous visit to the rainbow nation back in 2021-2022.

When KL Rahul pounded his first Centurion special

KL Rahul was part of the travelling group under Virat Kohli when Team India toured South Africa for a three-match Test series between December 2021 and January 2022. Opening the innings alongside Mayank Agarwal in the series opener at Centurion’s SuperSport Park, Rahul saw off the collective new-ball threat posed by Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen before unleashing a sequence of extraordinary boundaries and an elegant lofted shot over mid-on for a six.

The right-handed batter shared a 117-run first-wicket stand with Agarwal, and another 82 runs with number four Virat Kohli to lead India’s batting charge on the opening day of the first Test.

The cricketer eventually brought up his century, the seventh of his Test career, at the brink of the opening day’s play by dispatching hosts spinner Keshav Maharaj for a scorching boundary towards short extra-cover. The star opener scored 123 runs in all, washed up 260 deliveries in the process to top score in India’s 327-run first innings effort.

As it turned out, Rahul’s batting masterclass set up a foundation of a famous Indian win against South Africa to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. Fast bowlers collectively demolished the Proteas within 200 in each innings of the contest to seal the game by 113 runs, with Rahul bagging the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his batting spectacle.