Rishabh Pant continued to announce his return to competitive cricket with another brilliant fifty for Delhi Capitals in the ongoing IPL 2024 game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday. Kolkata posted a record 272 total while batting first at ACA-VDCA Cricket Ground but Pant’s 55 off just 25 balls kept Delhi alive for most of the game.

Pant displayed sensational hitting by smashing six consecutive boundaries off Venkatesh Iyer in the 12th over to boost Delhi past 100 and bring his second fifty of the season. Rishabh Pant stole the limelight by pulling off a no-look six on the third delivery of the 12th over. 

The returning Delhi Capitals skipper walked in to bat at no.5 after Delhi lost four wickets on just 33 runs. Pant and Tristan Stubbs added 93 runs for the fifth wickets to keep Delhi alive in the chase. Pant started his hitting by smashing a six and went on to smash nine boundaries, including five sixes.

However, Pant walked out on the very next delivery after smashing six boundaries off Venkatesh. Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Pant and next batter Axar Patel to end Delhi’s any chances of a comeback in the 13th over. Stubbs produced his first IPL fifty by scoring 54 off 32 balls as Delhi Capitals were bowled out on 166 in 17.2 overs.

“Our bowlers were all over the play,” Rishabh said during the post-match presentation. “I think it is time for reflection as an individual. We need to learn from these mistakes and come positive in the next match. My body Doing fine. Getting out there. Enjoying every day but cricket has its own ups and downs.”

Delhi Capitals Playing XI: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed.

Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI: Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.