Pantabulous hundred in vain
Delhi Daredevils’ Rishab slams maiden IPL ton but Hyderabad win by nine wickets
Delhi Daredevils’ (DD) Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten century was not good enough as a 176-run second-wicket partnership between opener Shikhar Dhawan (91 off 49) and skipper Kane Williamson (83 off 53) steered the visitors Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a convincing nine-wicket win in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Thursday.
SRH chased down 188-run target with seven balls to spare.
Earlier, Pant smashed his maiden hundred in the IPL, helping DD overcome a poor start to reach an imposing 187 for five. Pant (128 not out off 63 balls) was unstoppable in his unbeaten knock as he toyed with arguably the best bowling attack in the competition, single-handedly giving a fighting chance to a struggling Delhi side.
His special knock comprising 15 fours and seven sixes also more than made up for his involvement in run-outs of captain Shreyas Iyer (three off seven) and a set Hasrshal Patel (24 off 17). Delhi decided to put scoreboard pressure on the opposition by deciding to bat but things did not go according to plan in the powerplay. Shakib Al Hasan struck off consecutive balls in the fourth over to remove inform opener Prithvi Shaw (nine) and Englishman Jason Roy (11), leaving Delhi at 21 for two. Shaw mistimed a pull off a short ball and Shikhar Dhawan latched on to it at cover.
The 20th over saw Pant dispatching Bhuvneshwar for three consecutive sixes, including a one-handed one that sailed over long-on. Thanks to Pant, Delhi amassed 138 runs in the last 10 overs.