Pant's blitz hands Delhi 6-wicket win over Rajasthan

Wednesday 24th April 2019 02:31 EDT
 
 

The 21-year-old Rishabh Pant played a blistering knock (78 not out) to lead Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals with four balls to spare. With this win Delhi also moved to the top of the table. The Royals may have felt its 191 for six was good enough. Opener Ajinkya Rahane’s unbeaten (105 not out) would have been a match-winning effort in most games, but not on a night when Pant took over charge. Pant added 84 for the third wicket with Prithvi Shaw, who took good advantage of the catch spilled by Ashton Turner when he was on 10 as he went on to make 42 before he fell to Shreyas Gopal. At the end of the 18th over, Delhi were 175 for four – exactly what Rajasthan was at the same stage. But, Pant dispatched Jofra Archer’s last ball in the 19th over long-on for a six. Now, Delhi needed just six from the last over. After Colin Ingram took a single off the first ball, Pant pulled Jayadev Unadkat over mid-wicket for a six to finish off the run chase in style.

MSD’s late charge falls just short

Chennai Super Kings lost their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL- 12 match by one run. Chennai were at one stage in dire straits - 28 for four in the sixth over, chasing 162 runs to win. The chase looked almost derailed. The RCB, however, had not reckoned the might of MS Dhoni. With CSK needing 26 runs to win in the last over, Dhoni hit Umesh Yadav for 24 off the first five balls. But he missed the final ball and RCB wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel had the non-striker Shardul Thakur just short of the crease and CSK fell short by one run. Earlier, Parthiv Patel's attacking half-century and Moeen Ali's final flourish helped RCB to score 161for 7.

Sunrisers tame KKR

David Warner (67 off 38 balls) and Jonny Bairstow helped Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders. The nine-wicket win with five overs to spare was just the confidence-booster Sunrisers needed ahead of their crucial game against Chennai Super Kings. Kane Williamson put them in and KKR have only themselves to blame for the dismal show when they grassed Bairstow three times, the first when he was on one. The Englishman needed no second invitation to run them ragged with an unbeaten 80 (43b) after the opening wicket partnership of 131 runs was terminated by debutant Prithvi Raj. The visitors’ 159 for eight was in total contrast.

Smith takes charge with win

Rajasthan Royals have sought solution to their problems in the sacking of Ajinkya Rahane as captain and handing over the reins to Steve Smith. The knee-jerk reaction resulted in immediate benefits as the Royals thumped Mumbai Indians by five wickets at Swawai Mansingh Stadium. Charting the course of victory for the Royals was a collective team effort. If bowlers stopped Mumbai’s batters in their tracks, Royals’ batsmen showed up to not let the team feel the massive void left by Jos Buttler. Teenager Riyan Parag (43 off 29) excelled in Steve Smith’s (59* from 48 balls) company and both ensured Royals the third victory to their name.

Shreyas, Dhawan do star turn for DC

Delhi Capitals avenged their shocking defeat with a five-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab, brightening their prospects of making the play-offs of the IPL. Chasing 164 for a win, senior opener Shikhar Dhawan laid the foundation with a fluent 56 of 41 balls, while skipper Shreyas Iyer contributed an unbeaten 58 off 49 balls to complete the job with two balls to spare. Iyer hit five fours and a six. In the first leg in Mohali, DC lost seven wickets for eight runs to gift KXIP victory after sitting pretty at 144 for three in the 17th over while chasing 168.

RCB survive Russell assault

Tough times never last, but tough people do. On Friday Virat Kohli proved it once again. After seven defeats in eight matches, it required something special to lift the flagging fortunes of Royal Challengers Bangalore and it came in the form of a Kohli show. In the absence of AB de Villiers, the skipper took it upon himself to keep the side alive as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 runs at the Eden Gardens. KKR made a poor start as South African pacer Dale Steyn made a roaring return in RCB colours after nine years by picking up two quick wickets. But Andre Russell almost scripted another impossible victory by throwing his arms almost at everything. He reigned mostly in sixes hitting nine sixes to score 65 off 24 balls before being run out in the penultimate ball of the match.

In Dhoni's absence, Chennai lose to Sunrisers

Chennai Super Kings suffered their second defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad by 6 wickets. CSK, being led by Suresh Raina in MS Dhoni's absence could manage to put up a score of 132/5 in 20 overs. Despite the loss, CSK remain at the top of the IPL table, their four-point lead intact. For SRH, who have leapfrogged Kolkata Knight Riders to go fifth on the table on the basis of net run rate after this result, these two points get them back into the race for the playoff spots. Shane Watson (31) and Faf du Plessis (45) had given CSK a good start, before both of them fell in quick succession, leaving CSK at 81/2 in the 11th over. After the openers' wickets, CSK failed to rebuild the innings. Chasing a modest target of 133, SRH openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow wasted no time in getting the chase started in earnest. Warner brought up his 41st half-century in quick time, and by the time CSK could prize out his wicket, SRH were 66/1 in the 6th over.

Kings XI lord over Royals

Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashiwn stole the show with his all-round performance as hosts defeated Rajasthan Royals by 12 runs at Mohali. With this win Kings XI also ended their winless streak of two matches, while Rajasthan Royals slumped to their sixth defeat. Ashwin led his team from the front as he finished the Kings XI’s innings with a couple of lusty blows and carted 17 runs off the last over of Dhawal Kulkarni and then came back to choke Rajasthan Royals chase in the middle overs by taking the prize wickets of Sanju Samson (27 off 21) and Rahul Tripathi (50 off 45). Ajinkya Rahane’s patchy form with the bat continues as he failed to give the required momentum to Rajashthan’s innings. Stuart Binny injected momentum in RR innings. But it was too late for Rajasthan to get a result.

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