Former England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan heaped praises on Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Rishabh Pant for his brilliant recovery from a horrific car crash, as the keeper-batter slammed his second successive fifty of IPL 2024 during his side’s 106-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match 16 on Wednesday (April 3). Hosting the Kolkata outfit in Visakhapatnam, Pant-led DC had a forgettable evening as KKR posted 272/7; the second-highest score in IPL, and dismissed the hosts for 166 in 17.2 overs.
Pant came into this year’s IPL on the back of a 14-month gap due to a horrific car accident in December 2022. Returning to competitive cricket after such a long time, Pant started slowly but is now getting close to his usual best with each game. His fitness has also been lauded by many former cricketers.
In this regard, Morgan said on Jio Cinema, “Rishabh Pant is certainly looking good and a lot of people, including myself, can’t believe his progress both physically, mentally and his performance on the field. There is one thing getting your own body and mind right, there is another thing delivering on the field. He is leading his team and he is actually leading quite well. He needs a little bit of help alongside it. He needs to find more out of the likes of Mitchell Marsh, more runs from David Warner and a lot more from Prithvi Shaw.”
Despite Pant’s 25-ball 55, laced with 4 fours and 5 sixes at 220, DC only managed 166 in response to KKR’s humongous 272/7. Batting first, the Shreyas Iyer-led side rode on Sunil Narine’s 39-ball 85, Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 27-ball 54, Andre Russell’s 41 (19) and Rinku Singh’s 26 (8) to post 272/7; second-highest score of this season and overall as well.
In the steep run-chase, DC lost the likes of Prithvi Shaw, David Warner and Mitchell Marsh cheaply as Pant and Tristan Stubbs (54) were the only saving grace for the hosts. With this, KKR remain unbeaten and are at the top spot whereas Delhi are at the ninth spot in the points table.
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