Delhi Daredevils hosted the Rajasthan Royals in the 32nd match of IPL 2018 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. It is a must-win game for Delhi Daredevils and their batsmen responded with utmost ferocity.
RR skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bowl first before the rain arrived and curtailed the match to 18-over a side. DD didn’t start their innings on a positive note as Dhawal Kulkarni removed the dangerous Colin Munro for a duck in the very first over. However, the 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw was in a different mood altogether.
Prithvi hit a flurry of boundaries in the subsequent overs to put Rahane and company on the backfoot. He was eventually dismissed by Shreyas Gopal for 25-ball 47 (4 fours and 4 sixes). Shaw put on a 73-run stand for the second wicket with Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer, who also entertained the crowd with his dazzling batting.
Rishabh Pant carried on from where Shaw has left and forged a mesmerizing 92-run partnership with Iyer. While DD captain scored 50 runs off 35 balls (3 fours and 3 sixes), Pant played breathtaking innings of 69 runs off 29 balls that included 7 fours and 5 towering sixes.
Thanks to the blitz in the final few overs from Vijay Shankar (17 runs off 6 balls), DD eventually ended up with a mammoth total of 196/6 in 17.1 overs. The last 5 balls of Delhi's innings couldn’t be delivered as the rain once again halted the play.
Twitterati was in awe to see the way DD batsmen dazzled the capacity Kotla crowd.
Here are some of the top tweets hailing Delhi’s stellar show with the bat:
Shaw, Iyer, Pant......such batting riches. In spite of #SRH showing the power of good bowling, batting is growing much faster.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 2, 2018
What amazing shots this young kid @PrithviShaw is playing. It’s treat to watch. Though he is playing over the top but still good cricketing shots. #RRvsDD #VIVOIPL2018
— Ajay Ratra (@ajratra) May 2, 2018
High back lift. Free flowing downswing. No inhibitions in going aerial. Sky is the limit for Prithvi in shorter formats ???????????? #DDvRR #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 2, 2018
And now @RishabPant777 joins the party... That was HUUUUUUUGEEEEEE!!!???????????????????????? @DelhiDaredevils @StarSportsIndia #DDvRR
— Erin Holland (@erinvholland) May 2, 2018
Rishabh Pant is "Mike Tyson with a cricket bat"#DDvRR#IPL2018 #IPL
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) May 2, 2018
Shreyas Iyer ain't doing badly either! He's a terrific striker of the ball. Between him and Pant, creating mayhem
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 2, 2018
This is some batting from @RishabPant777 fantastic hitting. He generates some power!! #DDvRR @DelhiDaredevils season notwithstanding this man has made a statement.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) May 2, 2018