Manchester, July 4: KL Rahul hit a dominating century against England in the first T20I to ensure that India begin their campaign against host England on a positive note. The imposing right-handed batsman, who made quite a heads turn in 2018 Vivo IPL with his explosive batting at the top for Kings XI Punjab and scored a quick 70 off just 36 balls against Ireland in the second T20I a few days back, carried from where he left and took the England bowlers to the cleaners in his 101 runs knock off just 54 balls. Watch the highlights from Rahul's explosive hundred here.

India was chasing a target of 160 after chinaman Kuldeep Yadav's fifer (5/24) restricted England to just 159 despite a promising start. Catch the video highlights and the match report of the first T20I between India and England here.

Earlier in the match, Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field first against a formidable England side which has earned a reputation thanks to big hitters like Butler, Roy and Hales at the top order. England got off to a good start but could not read the chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and ended up setting a target of below par 159. In response, KL Rahul produced a masterclass to guide India home.

KL Rahul also became only the second Indian to score two international centuries in T20 Internationals after Rohit Sharma. The century in the first T20 has justified all the talk around KL Rahul being the next big thing in Indian cricket and batting. It also sets up the platform for what can be a memorable tour for India and the batsman. But only time will tell, whether this proves true.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 04, 2018 10:06 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).