Captain Marvel

Pant’s blinding knock & brace of sharp catches help DC see off Titans by 4 runs

SYNOPSIS

Axar and Pant stitch a vital stand and the latter takes the game deep, a speciality of Gujarat. On this night though, Miller and Rashid fail to close it late.

Pant- Axar show how it’s done

A different strip was used at Kotla for this game. There was no sign of grass, it was nothing l i ke t he b elter t hat had hoste d Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bashing of the hosts. Rishabh Pant, who calls the venue a virtual home, had hinted towards it at the toss. “It’s more on t he s l ower s i de t han t he l ast game.” Axar Patel had put i t i n his own words after a 43- ball outing. “Thoda fass raha tha.” There were runs in the offering, but they called for more application from the batters. In the end, it was Pant and Axar, who read it best and stabilised the innings af ter Delhi’s top- order - minus David Warner - mistimed their way back to the dressing room.

It was against the Afghan spin duo of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad, that the two started ticking on their way to a hundredplus stand. It was a stern test with the two wrist- spinners being the mirror images of each other. But the two DC left- handers had done their homework and looked flawless as they kept the flow of boundaries strong through the middle overs phase. It was a partnership in every sense of the word, with the two feeding off of each other’s success.

I f Axar picke d t he wrong ‘ un f rom Rashid with a slog sweep over mid wicket, Pant was equally comfortable as he made room on the off- side to meet Noor’s googly with a paddle shot down fine leg for four. Off Rashid’s next, both the southpaws split the field on the leg side for a boundary each as the leggie dragged back his length. The pull in particular was the go- to shot for the two as the ball took its time to come onto the bat.

With the introduction of Mohit Sharma in the second half of the innings, the offpace delive r i es b ecame regular. I f Pant scythed an angled- away delivery down deep backward point off the pacer in one over, Axar matched it by rocking back in his crease off the spinner and manufacturing a cut shot of his own.

Pi cking up t he pace i n t he death overs, Pant smeared a couple of sixes off Mohit b ef ore Axar hammered back- toback maximums off Noor. His attempt at a third led to a breakthrough for Gujarat but brought no respite as the Delhi skipper taped into his finisher self.

It’s a role the India;’ s cricket loyalists have envisioned Pant take on since he announced his arrival on the big stage. His use of the crease coupled with a range of unorthodox shots lends him an apt arsenal to do so. But for one reason or another, it hasn’t happened. With a wicketkeeper- batter spot left ripe for the taking at this summer’s T20 World Cup though, Pant’s shift of gears on Wednesday couldn’t have been better timed.

Against Mohit Sharma, he unfurled the shot of the night— a hoick in front of square, hanging back in his crease, off a length ball. In the final over though, Pant would rip into Gujarat’s designated death bowler with disdain - brandishing four sixes and a four.

“The plan was to take the game deep,” Axar would concede at the halfway- stage. It’s an act their opposition have carved their reputation from. It’s an act they almost pulled off on Wednesday.

GT almost close it

When Pant held onto Rahul Tewatia’s outside edge off Kuldeep Yadav, Delhi had ever y r i ght to f eel t hey were t he fa - vorites. 72 runs were require d with j ust f our overs. David Miller, despite his reputation, hadn’t f i re d t his s eason. He’d break t he s hackles next over, plundering 24 off Anrich Nortje.

Clearing his front leg off the first ball - a 146.5KPH good l ength deliver y on t he st umps - Miller rammed i t down midwicket f or f our. The Proteas spee dster amped up the pace off the next one and his national teammate looked as if he’d anticipated the move. 150 clicks, a tad fuller, and the southpaw creamed it through the line over extra cover for six. For the quintessential short ball, Miller stood his ground to fashion a pull shot. But it was the one he hit down the ground that took the cake. Just a gentle push with the bat’s trajector y as straight as it gets. A 21- ball fifty and the equation was now down to 48 off the last three. But he holed one to deep square leg in the next over.

I n came t he newly- appointe d Tamil Nadu skipper Sai Kishore, who had stepped up with the ball a few nights. The 27- yearold dealt back- to- back sixes off Rasikh Dar

Pant’s knock not only set DC a lofty total but put him favorite to keep wickets for India at the T20 World Cup later this year.

Salam before bowing out on the final ball of the penultimate over.

With 19 required off the final over, there was a reason to worry for the home side. Rashid Khan held the strike. The Afghan spinner had starred with the bat before for the two- time finalists.

And when he st abb e d back- to - back fours off Mukesh Kumar’s first two deliveries, it seemed as if Gujarat were closing down another game right down the wire. Even after a couple of dot balls, he kept the game alive with a six. A four would have stretched the game to the Super Over. It wasn’t to be, as Mukesh nailed a yorker and Rashid couldn’t get the bat underneath it. BRIEF SCORES: Delhi Capitals 224 for 4 ( Pant 88*, Axar 6 6, Warrier 3- 15) b eat Gujarat Titans 220 for 8 ( Sai Sudharsan 65, Miller 55, Salam 3- 44) by four runs.

Praveen Khanna Rishabh Pant seemed back to his hitting best, scoring an unbeaten 43- ball 88 which included 5 fours and 8 sixes.