Youngster sizzles with 128* but SRH duo's 176-run stand takes them to play-offs while knocking DD out
Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson overshadowed a special century by young Rishabh Pant as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat the Delhi Daredevils (DD) by nine wickets at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Thursday.
Pant's jaw-dropping unbeaten 128 off just 63 balls almost single-handedly took the hosts to 187/5 in 20 overs, but the two experienced SRH batsmen ensured that the chase was aced with relative ease.
After losing opener Alex Hales in just the second over, Dhawan and Williamson put on a show on quality batsmanship, ensuring the visitors get to the target with seven balls to spare.
While the Indian scored 92* off 50 balls, the skipper wasn't too far behind, notching up 83 in 53 deliveries as SRH became the first team to enter the play-offs, while also knocking DD out of the competition.
Earlier, Pant dazzled in front of his home crowd to strike his maiden century in the IPL. His sizzling unbeaten 128 from just 63 deliveries gave DD hopes of a victory and thereby survival in the IPL.
The impact of Pant's innings could be judged by the fact that even with Australian shorter format specialist Glenn Maxwell at other end during overs No. 15 to 19, he scored 54 out of total 63 runs scored during that period.
Pant anchored the innings after initial hiccups when the visitors reduced DD to 48/3 after nine overs.
The southpaw's valuable 55-run partnership with Harshal Patel off just 37 balls for the fourth wicket that steadied the hosts' sinking ship.
He made his intentions clear from the word go, hitting Siddharh Kaul for three consecutive fours in the sixth over.
The 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman didn't crumble under pressure even after his shoddy running between the wickets, which cost Delhi the wickets of captain Shreyas Iyer (3) and Harshal Patel (24).
He continued to hit big shots to take advantage of Kotla's short boundaries, first in the company of Patel and then Maxwell. Pant's knock was studded with 15 fours and seven sixes.
Even an otherwise economical swing bowler like Bhuvneshwar Kumar was hit for 51 runs in his four overs, with Pant showing his class in the final over of the innings bowled by Bhuvi.
Pant hit the death-overs specialist for two fours and three sixes, both those fours coming through scoops over short third man.
Pant has so far scored three half-centuries in the ongoing season, the earlier ones being 69 off 29 against Rajasthan Royals, 79 off 45 against Chennai Super Kings and 85 off 48 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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128* No. of runs Rishabh Pant scored on Thursday, the third century of IPL 2018 as also the highest individual score this season among 3 centurions
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 "Rishabh Pant")
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