DELHI // Rishabh Pant played arguably the innings of the Indian Premier League season so far, but had to be encouraged to leave the crease when he was out, such was his disappointment at not seeing the job through.
The 19-year-old wicketkeeper was caught behind on 97 off the 43rd delivery he faced, when aiming to hit his 10th sixth against Gujarat Lions.
His effort set the platform the second-highest successful run chase in the IPL, as Delhi Daredevils made 214-7 in 17.3 overs to stay in the hunt for a play-off place.
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Paul Radley in India
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“I wasn’t thinking about the three runs [to reach his century], I was just thinking about chasing down the runs as quickly as I can,” Pant said.
“If the ball is there to hit I will hit it. I was not thinking about getting out. If the ball is bad, you have to punish it.
“I was thinking about finishing the match. If I had finished the match, I would have got the three runs.”
The result means a place in the end of season finals will be beyond Gujarat, who had looked well placed after half-centuries for Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik.
The loss means they are second bottom in the table, an unbridgeable seven points behind fourth-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad, the defending champions.
Karthik said the team who finished top of the regular season in their debut IPL campaign last season have been too far off the pace this time around.
“Their batsmen were hitting boundaries at will, making the ground look much smaller than it is, and that has been the story of our season so far,” Karthik said.
“It has been disappointing, to say the least. We have not come to the party, and we are not good enough to qualify for the play-offs.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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