Rishabh Pant has been facing plenty of criticism for his poor form and fitness in the ongoing IPL 2020. The sequence of low scores saw Rishabh Pant being omitted from the Twenty20 and ODI squads for the Australia tour. In the final against Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals chose to bat and they already were in big trouble when Trent Boult dismissed Marcus Stoinis first ball of the match and then he cleaned up Ajinkya Rahane. Shikhar Dhawan looked to be aggressive but he fell to Jayant Yadav as he missed the sweep shot. In stepped Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to steady the innings.
Shreyas Iyer steadied some calm nerves in the Delhi Capitals camp when he hit two boundaries in the fifth over bowled by Trent Boult. However, for the first time in a long time, Rishabh Pant gave Shreyas Iyer good company as he was middling the ball well and timing the gap. Although he did look for some slogs to get out of trouble, Pant looked reassured and slowly, Delhi Capitals rebuilt the innings.
In the 10th over bowled by Krunal Pandya, Rishabh Pant showed his class as he blasted two massive sixes, one over long on and the other over deep midwicket as he and Shreyas Iyer built a partnership in excess of 60. Pant and Iyer were looking good for fifties as Mumbai Indians searched for another wicket. However, Pant and Iyer took Delhi Capitals past 100 and Pant notched up his fifty with a lap-scoop of Nathan Coulter-Nile in the 15th over. However, in the quest for too much aggression, Pant fell for 56 to Nathan Coulter-Nile as he top-edged the pull to Hardik Pandya.
Delhi Capitals eyeing history
Delhi Capitals entered the final of the Indian Premier League for the first time in their history after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 at Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi. Delhi Capitals were boosted by a fierce fifty from Shikhar Dhawan as well as an attacking knock from Marcus Stoinis. Kagiso Rabada sealed the match with four wickets as Delhi Capitals registered only their second win in IPL playoffs.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, will be aiming to win their fifth IPL title and they will be the favorites, considering that they have won all three of their encounters against Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020.
