IPL: Second innings knocks that had more impact than a century

#3 Rishabh Pant (97 vs Gujarat Lions)

A berserker style knock that blew away GL.

2017 season was not very kind to both Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions, as the two teams finished at 6th and 7th respectively in the points table. In spite of that, both the teams played two instant classics against each other within just a week, with DD coming on top in both showdowns. However, their first clash at Feroz Shah Kotla will always stay intact in the minds of the fans, as it featured the coming-of-age performance by youngster Rishabh Pant.

Asked to bat first in this showdown, Gujarat Lions posted a king-sized total of 208 on the board, thanks to a pair of phenomenal innings by Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik. A target of 209 was never going to be a cake-walk for DD, and they found it the hard way as they lost Karun Nair in just the 3rd over. However, it was just the beginning of the downfall for GL as this brought Rishabh Pant to the middle.

Along with Sanju Samson, who himself played a knock of 61 runs, Pant instituted a match-winning partnership of 143 runs in just 10.3 overs. While Samson played his role well, hitting 7 sixes, it was Pant who proved to be the game-changer as he hit 6 fours and 9 sixes en route to a 43-ball 97. Right when everyone thought Pant would finally reach his hundred, he was dismissed in the 15th over with only 29 left to win. DD took only 3 more overs to win the match, and Pant was rightfully given the MoM award.