Delhi Daredevils were faced with a daunting target after Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik had powered the visitors to 208. They had the in-form Sanju Samson at the top of the order but it was the move to persist with Rishabh Pant at No. 3 that changed the course of the chase.
While Delhi have had a tendency to use different players in that position since the onset of this season, they decided to stick with Pant this time around which turned out to be a masterstroke.
The southpaw attacked right from the start of his innings smacking Basil Thampi for a six over extra cover off just his second delivery. In the next over bowled by Sangwan, Pant really got going by bludgeoning back-to-back sixes off the first two balls followed by another four. Pant had already raced to 25 off 10 balls and had given the Delhi innings some much-needed impetus.
While he took on Raina and Soni whenever a loose ball came his way, the maturity to rotate the strike was what really stood out. In the 11th over, Pant started his attack on Faulkner, taking him for 23 in the over with three sixes and a four. The wicket-keeper batsman raced from 54 off 28 balls to 76 off 33.
Watch parts of his mind-boggling innings here.
Soon after Jadeja got rid of Samson to end a 143-run stand, Pant took him on for a six and a four to reveal that a wicket at the other end wasn't going to deter him. He was eventually dismissed three short of a 100 by Thampi, edging him behind to the keeper.
Context of the game
With such a humongous target to chase, Pant played a free-spirited game that helped Delhi stay on course. Importantly, he took the pressure off Sanju Samson with his elegant strokeplay that left every cricket fan awestruck.
There is no doubt that Pant is the future of Indian cricket and this knock proves that the time might be ripe to pick him in the Indian team atleast in the shorter formats.
Earlier in the game, the youngster had also grabbed an outstanding catch to get rid of Aaron Finch. The keeper-batsman seemed to have taken a lot of confidence from the catch into his batting as he teed off right from the start. He ensured he took apart the two best seamers of the opposition attack, Basil Thampi and James Faulkner, quite early to stamp his authority in the chase.
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