IPL 2024: Rishabh Pant’s Heroics Lead Delhi Capitals to Victory Over Gujarat Titans

Another epic battle, another epic finish and the crowd at the Kotla was happy as Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) for the second time this season to seal a last-over thriller in 4 overs. Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 88 off 43 balls and a game-changing partnership with all-rounder Axar Patel gave Delhi’s sinking ship a little more time to hang on in the playoff race, giving the hosts an extra chance to fend off the counter. Attack by Sai Sutherson and David Miller. DC are now level on points with Mumbai Indians before facing the 5-time champions this weekend in a battle for survival.

The Death Over Drama
A massive chase always required top performances from top order batsmen and Sai Sudarshan, the impact sub, succeeded under pressure with 65 off 39 balls, including 2 sixes and 7 boundaries. But his fighting innings was cut short by DC’s impact player Rasik Dar. The right-arm fast bowler not only took 3 wickets but also caught the dangerous David Miller who almost took the game out of DC’s clutches before falling prey to Mukesh Kumar in the 18th over. The game hung by a fine thread as the Titans needed 19 off the last 6 balls with a proven hard-hitter Rashid Khan in the middle, against an under-fire Mukesh Kumar. But the fast bowler managed to save Delhi’s pride despite hitting two boundaries and a six.

The Resurrection of DC
If Delhi had Dar, the Titans had a big help in Sandeep Warrier. In a league of big-hitters and mammoth totals, Warrior’s sheer brilliance with the new ball stole the limelight away from Delhi Capitals in the powerplay. Playing his second game for the Titans this season, his 3/15 was nicely spread over the 3rd and 6th overs where he had DC opener Jake Fraser McGurk and Prithvi Shaw and Shai Hope in his pocket. The same old story was repeating itself for Delhi – the top order with minimal support and the middle order doing the heavy lifting. But Akshar Patel, promoted at No. 3, and skipper Rishabh Pant dipped their brushes in the sweat of the GT players and painted an entirely different picture, filling it with vibrant colors.

Akshar and Pant didn’t go bang-bang from the word go, instead, they held their nerve to decode Gujarat’s slower-ball theory. By the end of the 15th over, the southpaw had reached fifty in 37 balls with the skipper still holding the catch. While they were huffing and puffing, a Mohit Sharma over boosted their partnership and the Titans were all over the place.

Pant hit the GT senior pacer for a six over Guy corner and hit another six over long-off, recharging himself for the best knock of the season. Meanwhile, Noor Ahmed destroyed Patel on 66 off 43 balls. However, his figures – 3/36 from 3 overs – belied the crucial breakthrough he made to break the 113-run stand. With Akshar gone and only a few deliveries left in the innings, the focus was solely on Pant as DC made a score of over 200. GT could have thwarted Delhi’s plans but they shot themselves in the foot with a sloppy bowling strategy. Retaining Sai Kishor and deploying him in the 19th over backfired as Tristan Stubbs hit him with a hat-trick of sixes.

Mohit Sharma’s unexpected feat
With a brutal attack against Sharma, Pant registered his highest score of the season. Batting on 58 off 37 balls in the final over, the DC captain plundered the last five balls and handed an unwanted record to GT’s most experienced fast bowler.

Sharma was bowled out for 73 runs in his four overs. He returned the most expensive bowling spell in IPL history and surpassed Basil Thampi’s figures of 0/70 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2018.

DC 224 for 4 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 88 not out, Akshar Patel 66; Sandeep Warrier 3/15)

GT 220 for 8 in 20 overs (Sai Sutherson 65, David Miller 55; Rasik Dar 3/44)