LUCKNOW: Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant saved his best for the final group stage fixture of the 18th season of the IPL. He blazed his way to an unbeaten 118(61) to power the hosts to 227/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday at the Ekana Stadium.
Pant and Mitchell Marsh (67) put in a swashbuckling batting effort and decimated Bengaluru’s depleted bowling attack to put a daunting total on the board. Bengaluru needs to break the shackles and chase record books, considering they have chased a 200-plus score twice in IPL history, and the highest target that has been pursued at the Ekana Stadium stands at 207.
The Super Giants captain stayed untill the end and kept hitting Bengaluru bowlers for boundaries. His unbeaten 118 were laced with 11 fours and nine sixes. He struck at a strike rate of 193.44.
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After winning the toss and opting to bowl, Nuwan Thushara ensured RCB got off to an authoritative start by cleaning up Matthew Breetzke’s (14) off-stump with a low full toss. The South African missed the drive completely, and the stump went for a walk in the third over.
Pant surprisingly promoted himself in the batting order and ensured Lucknow walked out of the powerplay unscathed with 55/1 on the board. Marsh exuded his brute force and clubbed it flat and hard over square leg for a maximum in the 8th over.
Lucknow’s captain strode forward on the first ball of the ninth over and picked up Suyash Sharma’s variation to hammer the ball past the boundary rope. He reeled off back-to-back fours to take 16 runs and brought up his fifty as Lucknow crossed the 10 overs with 100/1.
The boundary fest continued in the following overs, and Marsh brought up his seventh half-century of the season by dispatching the ball over deep mid-wicket. Pant continued to torment Suyash with a four and a six to take 13 runs from the over.
Pant continued to deal with sixes and bashed Romario Shepherd to keep the high run flow intact. Marsh battered Bhuvneshwar Kumar with back-to-back sixes, but India’s ‘Prince of Swing’ had the last laugh by deceiving the Western Australian to give away an outside edge straight to Jitesh Sharma.
With the 152-run partnership broken and momentum lost, Nicholas Pooran joined hands with Pant at the crease to finish Lucknow’s innings on high. Pant exuded confidence by carving the ball towards the boundary rope for a four on the final delivery of Bhuvneshwar’s over.
In the 18th over, he swept the ball away for a four to bring up his first IPL ton of the season and celebrated it with a somersault as Lucknow’s dressing room celebrated with a loud roar of applause.
Dayal continued to flounder his lines against Pant. The 27-year-old’s explosive fest continued in the penultimate over. He opened the face of his bat to pick up a four and then topped it up by pulling the ball away for a maximum.
Pooran welcomed Shepherd in the final over by slicing the ball away for a four. Pant flaunted his six-hitting prowess by flicking the full toss into the stands. Pooran’s short-lived 13(10) met its conclusion after he holed it straight to Dayal. Abdul Samad ran for a single on the final ball as Lucknow finished with 227/3. (ANI)
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