Delhi Capitals wicket batsman Rishabh Pant saved his best innings for the last one as the cricketer who hit a slump over the course of the 2020 IPL rose to the occasion on the night of the grand final against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday in Dubai.
Batting first, DC was reeling at 3/22 following an attack from Trent Boult when Pant arrived on the scene. With captain Shreyas Iyer at the other end, Pant opened up and hit some clean shots, something that was wrong this year.
The duo of Iyer (65 of 50 balls) and Pant (56 of 38 balls) added 96 runs to the fourth gate to get their team to safety. Notably, this was Pant’s first half century of the entire season. The fiftieth was decorated with four boundaries and two maximums.
DC eventually hit a total of 156/7 which MI then chased with ease with 5 wickets in hand and 8 balls to spare.
However, seeing Pant return to his usual form was an enjoyable sight for cricket fans, which commentator Harsha Bhogle summed up perfectly while sitting in the box. “We waited the entire IPL to see these Rishabh pants,” joked Bhogle.
Read also: ‘Now what?’: IPL 2020 is over and cricket fans are returning to their ‘boring’ lives with hilarious memes
Tweets of genuine thanks for the hitter appeared on social media, as many urged not to rule him out just yet.
Rishabh Pant’s big innings in a high-pressure situation, he didn’t have a single fifty this season and came at bat when DC was in big trouble at 22/3. pic.twitter.com/ZiymhDX8FR
– Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 10, 2020
Rishabh Pant entered at 5-3 in wc sf 2019 and showed that stomach to fight with 32 and today again in a final, although from IPL he has arrived at 22-3 and played a mature blow. He has a real spark on this guy, don’t discount it just yet.
– The Joker (@ Joker122018) November 10, 2020
But where is Rishabh Pant there are memes. Fortunately, this time it wasn’t at the wicket hitter’s expense.
Let me know when it’s time to delete all tweets from Rishabh Pant.
– Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) November 10, 2020
In the end, the Mumbai Indians tasted victory for an unprecedented fifth time in the IPL, becoming the second team after Chennai Super Kings to defend their title.
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