Delhi Daredevils (DD) vs Gujarat Lions (GL), IPL 2017, Match 42: Rishabh Pant’s blitzkrieg and other highlights

Delhi Daredevils (DD) kept their hopes of making it to the IPL 2017 playoffs alive by registering a thumping win over Gujarat Lions (GL).

Delhi Daredevils (DD) kept their hopes of making it to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 playoffs alive by registering a thumping win over Gujarat Lions (GL). Making a mockery of the 209-run target set by Gujarat, DD batsmen Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson carted their bowlers all around the park, getting past the victory line with 15 balls to spare. While Samson scored 61 off 31 balls, Pant hammered 97 off just 43 balls. Between the two, the duo hit 9 fours and 16 sixes. Thanks to their efforts, Delhi registered the second-highest successful chase in the history of IPL, and, as I wrote before, kept their chances of making it to playoffs alive. Let us take a look at some of the talking points from the Match No. 42 of IPL 10:

Where’s Morris? Delhi Daredevils surprised, or rather shocked one and all by leaving out Chris Morris for this game. No, there was no injury update on him. DD actually dropped Morris — their leading wicket taker, fourth-highest run-scorer and the batsman with second-highest strike rate in IPL 10. The question was obvious — where’s Morris?

Raina – Karthik stand: GL, in no time, were tottering at 10 for 2. At this point, had someone offered Suresh Raina 208 runs, he would have taken them gleefully. However, it needed a monumental effort to get to that total. Raina and Dinesh Karthik added 133 runs for the third wicket, playing some delightful strokes in the process. This was also Gujarat Lions’ first century stand in IPL 10. While Raina scored 77 off 43, Karthik managed 65 from 34 balls. It looked like Gujarat will easily cross 225-run mark till the time they both were playing. But their dismissals in quick succession pegged back their side a bit. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD, Delhi Daredevils (DD) vs Gujarat Lions (GL), IPL 2017 – Match 42 at Delhi

Rabada – Cummins stand tall amidst ruins: While all other DD bowlers went over 11 RPO, Kagiso Rabada (4-0-28-2) and Pat Cummins (4-0-30-2) were stand-out performers with the ball. Their spell was the difference between a 225-odd target and the actual target of 209 runs.

Butterfingers to electric-heels: In their last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Delhi were playing with butterfingers in the field. They dropped catches, gave away overthrows and conceded runs to mis-fields. On Thursday against GL, barring an easy catch that Shreyas Iyer dropped in the slips, DD were brilliant on the field. Corey Anderson’s stunner to dismiss Karthik, Pant’s screamers to get rid of Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch and the two direct hits by Shahbaz Nadeem and Rabada are enough to prove the side actually went from butterfingers to electric-heels in a span of two days. FULL CRICKET UPDATES, Delhi Daredevils (DD) vs Gujarat Lions (GL), IPL 2017 – Match 42 at Delhi

Pant – Samson onslaught: The DD youngsters showed just why Rahul Dravid and Co. have so much faith in them. Samson, who earlier had scored a hundred this season, scored 61 on Thursday. Quite interestingly, he did not hit a single four during his innings, but smacked as many as 7 sixes. Pant, on the other hand, missed out on a well-deserved ton by just 3 runs. His 43-ball 97 won DD the match and him the Man of the Match award.

Raina’s wonderful gesture: Even though his side was on the receiving end of Pant’s assault, Raina, like a true sportsman, appreciated the young man’s effort after he was dismissed. Pant was crestfallen to miss out on a ton, but Raina gave him a couple of pats on his cheeks and appreciated his knock, which made for a pleasing view. IPL 2017: Pant shines in record chase as DD register thumping win over GL in IPL 10

And… no playoff for Raina, for the first time: All good things come to an end, and alas, Raina’s dream run in IPL also ended on Thursday. With GL out from the race to playoffs, Raina missed out on playing in the knockouts for the first time in his IPL career. He has played in the knockouts 8 times with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and with Gujarat the last year.