Young batting sensation Rishabh Pant’s terrific hundred could not save the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 match for the Delhi Daredevils (DD) at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday (10 May). With the 9-wicket defeat, DD is now officially out of the IPL 2018 Playoffs.
Came to bat No.4 in Delhi, the 20-year-old left-hander took the charge by playing a magnificent knock of 128* off 63 balls, hitting 15 boundaries and 7 balls out of the park to bring the Daredevils back into the game and help them to post a decent total of 187/5 on the board against the SRH.
However, SRH successfully chased down the target in just 18.5 overs, thanks to Shikhar Dhawan (92* off 50 balls including 9 fours and 4 sixes) and Kane Williamson’s (83* off 53 deliveries including 8 fours and 2 sixes) fantastic innings against the DD, guiding the Orange Army to the IPL 2018 playoffs.
Following the match, many questions have been raised on the Hyderabad’s bowling effort against the Daredevils, especially because of Pant’s stunning century, though the SRH bowlers have been fantastic so far in the IPL 2018, and they have won last four T20 games on their own.
Sandeep Sharma stilled hailed his follow bowlers saying that the pitch did not have anything to offer to the bowlers and that going ahead in the tournament, Sunrisers will be wary of their opponent's strengths and weaknesses.
In the last over, premier seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 26 runs, but Sharma believes that the wicket-keeper batsman was at his best in Delhi and that’s just not meant the SRH bowlers haven’t performed in the IPL 2018 encounter.
As per reports in Indian Express, Sandeep told reporters at the post-match conference, “Rishabh Pant played really well. He took all our experienced bowlers- Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddarth Kaul to the cleaners. He even scored runs on good deliveries. But the bowlers still performed well as we restricted DD below 200 in spite of Pant’s unbeaten 128*.”
The 24-year-old further added, “Our plan was to bowl wide outside the off-stump because he generally hits well straight down the ground. However, he came up with strokes like the reverse scoop to negate that. Those kinds of shots do not work always all the time, but it did for him today. It was his day.”
He signed off by saying, “There hasn’t been any help in the wicket especially the movement and swing. So it is tough. But we have to improve and take wickets with the new ball.”
