Delhi Daredevils are hosting the Mumbai Indians in the first match of Super Sunday (May 20) at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Provided the fact that Daredevils are already out of the playoffs race, they have got nothing to lose from this match while the defending champions have got everything to play for.
Opting to bat first, DD got off to a flier with Prithvi Shaw and Glenn Maxwell adding 30 runs in just 3 overs. Mumbai drew the first blood in the fourth over courtesy Hardik Pandya’s brilliant effort to run out Shaw on 12 while Jasprit Bumrah removed the dangerous looking Maxwell in the fifth over for 22.
All of a sudden Delhi were tottering at 38/2 before skipper Shreyas Iyer and the inform Rishabh Pant consolidated the innings with a 37-run partnership. After Iyer’s dismissal, Pant took the responsibility and forged a 64-run stand for the fourth wicket with Vijay Shankar to put DD in a commanding position.
The southpaw was eventually dismissed by Krunal Pandya on 64. It was Pant’s fifth fifty of IPL 2018 and he finished the season with 684 runs from 14 innings. For now, he is leading the runs tally, surpassing Kane Williamson’s 661 runs.
Thanks to Shankar (43 runs off 30 balls) and Abhishek Sharma’s handy 35-run partnership at the fag end of the innings, Delhi eventually ended up with a highly competitive total of 174/4 in 20 overs.
Twitterati were amazed to see yet another special effort with the willow from Pant.
Here are some of the top tweets after the first innings:
May be A good opportunity for #DD to look at future investments #DDvMI #IPL2018
— subramani badrinath (@s_badrinath) May 20, 2018
Ek haath se 83 meters ka six gaya hai. Do haathon se Connaught Place pahunch jaata ???? #DDvMI #RishabhPant
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 20, 2018
Ponting will surely have a not-so-quiet word with Prithvi Shaw on running between the wickets
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 20, 2018
Embarrassing #DDs
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) May 20, 2018
Pant is only the fourth player in the history of #IPL to score over 600 runs at a strike-rate of 160+. Gayle, AB, Rahul and Pant this season. #DDvMI #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 20, 2018
An 'Outstanding' player in 'Outstanding' form with yet another 'Outstanding' Innings - Well Done @RishabPant777 ????????#DDvMI
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) May 20, 2018
The most runs scored by a DD player in a VIVO @IPL season.
— Delhi Daredevils (@DelhiDaredevils) May 20, 2018
Take a bow, @RishabPant777! ????????#DilDilli #Dhadkega #DDvMI pic.twitter.com/RnGLQvzeDT