Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], March 27 : Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant was seen smashing the ball hard during the nets session at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur ahead of his side's fixture against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
The Delhi-based franchise's social media account shared a glimpse of Pant's attacking style of play from the net sessions, which he usually shows during a match against his opponents.
https://x.com/DelhiCapitals/status/1772936572301619329?s=20
In DC's first match of the season against Punjab Kings, the 26-year-old scored 18 runs from 13 balls at a strike rate 138.46. He slammed two fours during his time on the crease.
Pant's walk to the crease against PBKS was his first since December 22, 2022. Earlier in 2022, the wicketkeeper-batter was involved in a life-threatening car accident. Though Pant made it out alive, he sustained injuries serious enough to cause him to miss the IPL 2023 and India's ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 run in India in late 2023, in which India ended up as runners up to Australia.
Recapping DC's match against Punjab, PBKS put DC to bat after winning the toss. Fiery knocks on top by David Warner (29 in 21 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Mitchell Marsh (20 in 12 balls, with two fours and two sixes) helped Delhi Capitals start well, but they lost their way. Rishabh Pant made 18 off 13 balls in his comeback game. Delhi Capitals was struggling at 147/8, but an explosive cameo from Abhishek Porel (32 in 10 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) took DC to 174/9 in 20 overs.
Chasing 175, skipper Shikhar Dhawan (22 in 16 balls, with four boundaries) started off well. Prabhsimran Singh also contributed a useful 26 in 17 balls with five fours. But it was the 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Sam Curran (63 in 47 balls, with six fours and a six) and Liam Livingstone (38* in 23 balls, with two fours and three sixes) that sealed a four-wicket win for PBKS.
Kuldeep Yadav (2/20) and Khaleel Ahmed (2/43) were the top bowlers for DC. Punjab's Curran won the 'Player of the Match' for his knock.
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