Pantastic!

DC’s Rishabh Pant during his 43-ball 88 not out v GT on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

Spotting the brightest star on a full moon night can be tough. But on Wednesday night, with a full moon illuminating the sky, DC skipper Rishabh Pant was clearly the brightest star in a run-fest between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Sure, Axar Patel expertly negated the threat by GT spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad, with a 43-ball 66 in his 113-run stand with Pant, but it was the wicketkeeper-batter who excelled with 88 not out off just 43 balls. There were doubts over Pant unleashing his best self as a finisher after a scratchy 44 in the high-pressure chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad on his homecoming on April 20. But Pant was simply brilliant against GT, hitting eight sixes and five fours at a strike-rate of 204.6.

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When Pant walked in to bat, DC were in dire straits at 44-3. He had to initially bide his time and keep the scoreboard ticking with Axar. "When I was there in the first timeout, we discussed what can be the ideal score here. We came down to 180 and focused on getting it and then taking it from there. Rishabh was confident about getting 180 and felt that if we can achieve that, we can get more," DC batting coach Pravin Amre said at the post-match press conference.

Pant first hit a short ball down leg-side off Noor for a slog-sweep four over fine leg. When Rashid bowled short, he went quickly on the backfoot to pull him for four. When Noor pitched it full, he slogswept for six. Mohit Sharma, GT's death overs specialist, came in the 12th, but his length was to Pant's liking - short and wide - to pull and cut. The 16th over saw Pant welcoming Mohit with a whip over deep midwicket for six and then whack a full, slower ball over long off. Pant reached his 50 off 34 balls with a slog off Mohit over long-on for six. Mohit returned for the 20th over and Pant's powered his way to four sixes and a four to collect 31 runs off it.

"He [Pant] started his preparation at the two-week pre-season camp in Vizag and prepared himself very well because before that, he was at the NCA. I remember his first day when he came to the Vizag camp, he went straight to the ground from the airport. He was hungry, he made sure that he was going to utilise every day. You can see all his hard work is paying off. A couple of good knocks gave him the confidence, and today was special. He got 31 runs against an experienced bowler like Mohit in the 20th over and that really shows that he's in good form," said Amre.

Since his return to competitive cricket following the life-threatening car crash, Pant's performance with both bat and gloves has been closely monitored. And this electrifying knock has not just kept DC in the hunt for the playoffs but may well have secured his spot in Team India for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA in June.

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