Pant's special knock proves to be the deciding factor

Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant sensational performance with the willow ensured his team a thrilling four-run win over Gujarat Titans in the ongoing TATA !PL 2024 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Wednesday night.

Put in to bat by rival skipper Shubman Gill, playing his 100th IPL match,  the host posted a mammoth score of 224 for 4 in their allotted 20 overs, after being reduced to 44 for 3 inside power play by medium pacer Sandeep Warrier (3/15) on a night filled with ups and downs for the JSW and GMR co-owned franchise DC.

The same was possible largely due to the contrasting fifties by Pant (88 not out of 43 balls) and Axar Patel (66 off 43 balls) who forged a resilient 113 runs partnership of 68 balls for the fourth wicket. A brief cameo by Tristan Stubbs  (26 not out off 7 balls) later ensured the momentum before  Pant’s rare guard onslaught of experienced pacer Mohit Sharma (0/73) which included 6,4,6,6,6 off the last five balls in the final over of the innings in the end proved to be the marginal differentiator between the two outfits.

The same was similar to Mumbai Indian’s Romario Shepherd stunning blitz (32 runs in the final over including two fours and four sixes) a few weeks ago that saw Hardik Pandya’s side register their first win at home (Wankhede Stadium) against Delhi Capitals.

DC later survived a late onslaught from David Miller (55 off 23) and Rashid Khan (21 not out of 11 balls), following Sai Sudarshan (65 off 29 ) maiden half-century of the season as their bowlers led by impact player Rasikh Salam (3/44) and spinner Kuldeep Yadav (2/29) backed by brilliant fielding in the outfield where in Axar himself took three catches and Pants two behind the stumps restricted Gujarat Titans to 220/8 much to the delight of the home crowd in the end.

Reflecting on their first win at home Delhi Capitals' Assistant Coach Pravin Amre said, "It's so important to win for the crowd. They all come here to support us every game. It was a good game of cricket for the crowd. Yes, Gujarat came close, but in this format, even a one-run win is a victory for us".

The much needed win was their fourth in nine matches, including a double over Gujarat Titans, saw DC move to sixth position on the table and relegated Mumbai Indians to eighth, behind  Gujarat Titans.

Responding to all-rounder Axar Patel's promotion up the order to the No.3, the Mumbai based ex Indian cricketer Amre explained, "The idea was to give him some chance. So, the plan was to let Indian batsmen go and take on Sai Kishore in the powerplay, but he came in the 19th over due to the partnership he had with Rishabh. He showed maturity in batting. I think that's the reason we got 96 runs in the last five overs".

He further added, "All six batters scoring for is important for us and Axar was not having a big knock. We were confident Porel can bat both at top and bottom, so we wanted to give him that role of a finisher along with Stubbs today."

Speaking about Pant’s match-winning knock where he slammed five fours and eight towering sixes all-round the ground, Amre stated, "I remember his first day when he came at the Vizag camp (post his injury), he went straight to ground from the airport. He was hungry, he made sure that he was going to utilise every day. And you can see all his hard work is paying off."

"A couple of good knocks gave him the confidence, and today's was special. He single-handedly got 31 runs against an experienced bowler like Mohit Sharma in the 20th over and that really shows that he is in good form," he concluded.

The Delhi Capitals will take on five time’s former champions Mumbai Indians in their next match of IPL 2024 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday 27th April, in a bid to avenge their 29 run loss earlier in the tourney.  

Brief Scores:

Delhi Capitals - 224/4 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 88* (43b: 5x4s, 8x6s), Axar Patel 66 (43b: 5x4s, 4x6s), Tristan Stubbs  26* (7b: 3x4s, 2x6s); Sandeep Warrier 3/15, Noor Ahmad 1/36) beat Gujarat Titans - 220/8 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 65 (39b: 7x4s, 2x6s), David Miller 55 (23b: 6x4s, 3x6s), Rashid Khan 21* (11b: 3x4s, 1x6) ; Rasikh Salam 3/44, Kuldeep Yadav 2/29, Axar Patel 1/28, Mukesh Kumar 1/41, Anrich Nortje 1/48) by 4 runs. Player of the Match: Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals)

Photo Above: Player of the Match Rishabh Pant played a wide range of shorts during his unbeaten 88 as Delhi Capitals defeated Gujarat Titans by four runs (Photo courtesy BCCI)