Vinoop Manoharan, who was pushed up the order to open the innings, top scored with 96 runs.
Round 9 of the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 match between Himachal Pradesh and Kerala is set up for a thrilling final day after Himachal finished day three on 285/8, taking a lead of 296 runs at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium, Nadaun on Wednesday.
Rahul smashed 13 boundaries and one six in his unbeaten 195-ball 101.
For Kerala, MD Nidheesh was the pick of the bowlers with four for 81 in his 22 overs.
With the huge defeat and the bonus point, Punjab have moved up to fourth place with 20 points in seven matches just below Kerala, with the same number of points, but boast a better net run-rate.
Sandeep Warrier was the pick of the Kerala bowlers with 5/83 in his 27.2 overs.
Kaul returned with figures of six for 55 in his 15 overs.
22-year-old Kuldeep Sen and former India U19 Avesh Khan ran through Kerala's top-order in no time
Kerala register their second win of the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 season beating Bengal by nine wickets on day three of Round 3 of the tournament at the Eden Gardens, top go top of the points tally in Elite B with 13 points on Thursday.
As Bengal struggled to bundle out Kerala, Shami ended up bowling the maximum in the four-prong pace attack.