Ajinkya Rahane laid his T20 credentials in some style as he smashed a 58-ball century in the Indian Premier League match against Dellhi Capitals at Jaipur's Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Monday. His efforts helped his team, Rajasthan Royals, set a daunting target of 192; but a strong batting display by the opposition meant that Rahane ended up on the losing side.

Oh yeahhh 🙌🙌

What a knock, Ajju 😎 pic.twitter.com/bETLRwqm4H

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 22, 2019

Opening the batting for the Royals, the North Mumbai Panthers pick for the inaugural season of T20 Mumbai started off cautiously after his opening partner ran out early. That led to the building of a very strong partnership with captain Steve Smith as they added 130 runs for the second wicket.

Without taking any untoward risks, Rahane kept finding the boundaries by efficiently piercing the gaps as he ensured his side maintained a run rate of almost ten right from the beginning.

After his steady start where he scored just 16 runs in 18 balls, he went on a blitzkrieg that saw him pummel 89 runs in the next 45 deliveries at an astonishing strike rate of 197.77.

The right-handed batsman scored 11 fours and three sixes en route to scoring his second IPL century; and remained unbeaten at 105 in 63 balls after his team's quota of 20 overs. During the knock, he also he became the first player to score 3,000 runs for Rajasthan Royals.

The best I have seen #Rahane play in T20 cricket. Just based his game on timing and touch #RRvDC #DCvsRR @ajinkyarahane88 @rajasthanroyals @DelhiCapitals #IPL12 pic.twitter.com/L2iSGKa8gh

— Anupama Raag (@anupamaraag1) April 22, 2019

Despite his brilliant performance, visiting Delhi Capitals were the victors in a riveting contest courtesy a Rishabh Pant blitzkrieg that saw his score 78 off just 36 balls. Pant was ably supported by Rahane's T20 Mumbai teammate Prithvi Shaw who scored a crucial 42 to take his side home in Jaipur.