Emotions run high as Pant delights crowd with fairytale fifty against CSK: Watch

Rishabh Pant led from the front with his first IPL fifty since his comeback from a horror car crash as Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs on Sunday Captain Pant hit 51 off 32 balls after fellow lefthander David Warner smashed 52 and helped Delhi to 1915 in Visakhapatnam the adopted homeground for the Capitals due to the upcoming general elections But the fans in the south Indian city largely represented Chennai as they chanted MS Dhoni Dhoni Dhoni the former skipper obliging with an unbeaten 37 off 16 balls including four fours and three sixes Rishabh Pant 32 balls 51 pictwittercom79P89eO96umdash Flamboy Pant flamboypant April 1 2024Delhi restricted Chennai to 1716 for their first win of the season and hand their opponents a loss after two opening victories Khaleel Ahmed returned bowling figures of 221 to be named man of the match and Mukesh Kumar took three wickets Bowlers have been clinical today said Pant Weve learnt from our mistake Hes been working hard for the last two weeks Warner and Prithvi Shaw who hit 43 put on an opening stand of 93 before Chennais bowlers hit back with wickets including Matheesha Pathiranas two strikes in an over Pathirana also played a part in Warners dismissal after he took a stunning onehanded catch behind the stumps off an attempted reverse scoop from the lefthanded AustralianAlso ReadSlow and unsteadyPant who returned to the T20 tournament after 14 months away from top level cricket came in on the back of two innings of 18 and 28 and took time to settle in He started slowly but gained momentum at the backend as he smashed Pathirana for two fours and a six on successive balls but the bowler had his revenge on the fourth Took my time initially because I havent played much cricket but I kept believing I could change the match Pant said of his hits including a vintage onehanded flick for sixPathirana known as Baby Malinga for his slinging action and trademark yorkers similar to the former Sri Lankan pace ace Lasith Malinga returned figures of 331 Pant walked off to a standing ovation after his first IPL fifty since 2021 and after he crashed his Mercedes north of New Delhi before dawn in December 2022 Suffering multiple injuries when the car rammed into a crash barrier flipped over and caught fire Pant was rushed to hospital before being airlifted to Mumbai for further treatment and surgery Chennai who witnessed a captaincy change at the start of the season when the 42yearold Dhoni handed over the leadership to Ruturaj Gaikwad lost two early wickets including Rachin Ravindra for two Ajinkya Rahane 45 and Daryl Mitchell 34 put on 68 runs in their attempt to revive the chase but the duos departure saw wickets fall in clusters In the first match of the day Mohit Sharmas bowling figures of 325 and an unbeaten 44 by David Miller powered Gujarat Titans to their second IPL win with a thrashing of Sunrisers Hyderabad Gujarat restricted Hyderabad to 1628 a total they overhauled with seven wickets and five balls to spare at their home Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins came to the venue with happy memories after he led Australia to the World Cup title at the 132000capacity stadium last year but this time the home team ruledWith agency inputs