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Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper and India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant established a new record on Wednesday, becoming the batter with the most runs off a bowler in a T20 match.
The left-hander accomplished this feat during his side's Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here. Pant scored 88* in 43 balls, with five fours and eight sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of over 204.65. Out of this, he scored 62 runs against pacer Mohit Sharma. These runs came in just 18 balls, with three fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 344.44. Pant played just two dot balls against Mohit. The highlight of this onslaught on Mohit was no doubt the final over of the DC's batting. Pant faced him for the entirety of the over, which went ahead in this way: 2, wide, 6, 4, 6, 6 and 6! 31 runs came from the over and Pant got 30 of them. This acceleration took him from 58 in 37 balls to an unbeaten 88* in 43 balls. In second place is now Usman Khan, the Pakistan batter who smashed Quetta Gladiators' bowler Qais Ahmed for 54 runs in 12 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes at a strike rate of 450.00 while playing for Multan Sultans in this year's Pakistan Super League (PSL). Usman had scored 120 in 43 balls, with 12 fours and nine sixes that powered MS to a match-winning 262/3. In the ongoing season, Pant is in third place in the run-scoring charts with 342 runs in nine games at an average of 48.85 and a strike rate of 161.32, with three fifties. Coming to the game, Gujarat won the toss and opted to bowl first. After a swift start from openers, Jake Fraser McGurk (23 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Prithvi Shaw (11 in seven balls, with two fours), DC was restricted to 44/3. Then, Axar Patel (66 in 43 balls, with five fours and four sixes) and Rishabh Pant launched a counterattack on GT. In the death overs, Pant joined forces with Tristan Stubbs (26* in seven balls, with three fours and two sixes) to destroy GT's death bowling. Pant finished at 88* in 43 balls, with five fours and eight sixes. DC was 224/4 in their 20 overs. Sandeep Warrier (3/15) was the pick of the bowlers for GT. In the run-chase, GT lost skipper Shubman Gill early. A counter-attacking was once again in works as Wriddhiman Saha (39 in 25 balls, with five fours and a six) and Sai Sudarshan (65 in 39 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) had an 82-run partnership. In the later stages, David Miller (55 in 23 balls, with six fours and three sixes), Sai Kishore (13 in six balls with two sixes) and Rashid Khan (21* in 11 balls, with three fours and a six) put pressure on DC bowlers, but the hosts held their nerves to win the game by four runs, restricting GT to 220/8 in their 20 overs. Rasikh Salam (3/44) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/29) were among the top bowlers for DC. Pant took home the 'Player of the Match' award. DC is at the sixth spot in the points table, with four wins, five losses and eight points. On the other hand, GT is in the seventh spot with the same win-loss and points, but an inferior net run rate. (ANI)
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