IPL 2018: Red-Hot Rishabh Pant Breaks Gautam Gambhir's 11-Year Old Record
Rishabh Pant, on Saturday, started the proceedings with the bat from where he had left against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The hard-hitting southpaw had scored an unbeaten century against the Sunrisers and continued his form against Royal Challengers Bangalore too.
Pant came out to bat as early as the fourth over after Yuzvendra Chahal sent back both Daredevils openers – Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy- cheaply. With the team in a precarious position, Pant took his time to settle down.
However, he managed to make up for it, as the innings progressed. After a few quiet overs, the 20-year old belted Mohammed Siraj for successive sixes to get into the groove.
He hit Chahal for a six and four to reach his seventh IPL fifty off just 27 balls. He went on to smash another four before being dismissed for 61 off 34 deliveries. The innings was studded with five fours and four sixes.
Pant’s quickfire knock and a 19-ball 46 runs knock from debutant Abhishek Sharma helped Delhi recover from the early setbacks and post 181 for four. But just like the previous game, Pant’s knock once again went in vain, as Royal Challengers won the game by five wickets.
The Royal Challengers were in a spot of bother after losing both its openers – Parthiv Patel and Moeen Ali – with just 18 runs on the board.
However, the fifties from Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers took them home with six balls remaining.
The duo put on 118 runs for the third wicket with Delhi bowlers not having any answers for their brilliance. By the time Amit Mishra sent Kohli back, he had scored 70 off just 40 deliveries with three sixes and seven boundaries.
De Villiers, on the other hand, remained till the end and sealed the game in stunning style with consecutive sixes off Trent Boult. The South Africa star scored 72 off 37 balls with the help of four fours and six sixes.
Pant betters Gambhir:
While the result was a hard pill to swallow for Pant, he ended the night on a good note. The knock helped him take his tally to an impressive 582 runs in just 12 games, making him the highest-scorer this season.
Not only that, but the knock also helped him become the player with most number of runs scored for Daredevils in an IPL season. Gautam Gambhir previously held the record. The veteran batsman had scored 534 runs in the very first edition of the league in 2008.
