India wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul on Sunday roared back to form scoring the fastest century for hosts in a World Cup. The Karnataka player, who was playing on his home ground - M Chinnaswamy Stadium - scored a blistering 102 off just 64 balls, which helped India to post a massive 410/4 in their 50 overs. Shreyas Iyer also slammed an unbeaten ton (128).
KL Rahul was a relieved man on Sunday, having spent some time in the middle before the big semi-final against New Zealand to be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. The India wicket-keeper-batter took 62 balls to smash the fastest century for the country in a World Cup to better skipper Rohit Sharma's record (63 balls vs Afghanistan in the same edition of the World Cup).
"Not gotten a lot of time (in the middle) in the last two games, so it was nice to get some time today," KL Rahul, who ended up with 102 off 64 balls, told official broadcasters Star Sports in the mid-innings break.
"Batting at No five, it's important to get that confidence, it was a good knock. Getting that confidence to hit sixes towards the end was important," added Rahul. It was a timely knock for Rahul, his first fifty-plus score in eight innings coming just before the knock-out stage.
The flamboyant Rahul went berserk hitting four sixes and 11 fours as India racked up 122 runs in the last 10 overs for their second-highest World Cup total.
"It's not rocket science, got to go hard in the last 10 overs. Tried to get as many runs as possible, that was the plan, the ball gets softer, so hitting sixes at the back end becomes difficult. It's just not this game, everyone has a clear game plan, we have been executing it (our plans) pretty well," said KL Rahul.