"Paying tribute to MS Dhoni!"- Fans roast Rishabh Pant for slow batting against RCB
Rishabh Pant's knock of 58 off 48 balls ironically might have been the main reason why the Delhi Capitals (DC) suffered a heartbreaking defeat against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by just one run. The DC skipper was distraught that he couldn't get his team over the line and walked off in disbelief.
Former RCB batsman Shimron Hetmyer played a blinder for DC, scoring 53 runs off just 25 balls. It felt like the power-hitter from the West Indies would make his former team pay to let him go.
However, it was not to be as RCB registered their fifth win in six games this season and look like the team to beat this season once again after that hiccup against the Chennai Super Kings.
Twitter trolls Rishabh Pant for unusual innings
The past few months have been special for Rishabh Pant across formats for Team India. He hasn't put a foot wrong and has played a number of match-defining innings. So fans were disappointed and perplexed to witness such a rusty knock from the southpaw.
Others took the opportunity to troll Rishabh Pant as they believed his scratchy innings and poor strike-rate had undone all the hard work of Hetmyer. Here's how Twitter reacted to RCB's thrilling win over DC:
Chasing 172 runs was not going to be easy for DC as their morale had already taken a hit by a blitzkrieg from AB de Villiers. DC kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were 92-4 when Hetmyer joined Pant at the crease.
Pant took his time to get his eye in, but found it difficult to shift gears. All the RCB bowlers were nailing their line and length and the 23-year-old wasn't getting any freebies to get himself going.
Hetmyer's counter-attack brought DC back into the game and with 25 runs needed from 12 balls with six wickets in hand, the match looked to have already tilted in the favor of Rishabh Pant and his men.
However, RCB's much-improved death bowling, led by Harshal Patel, once again came to their rescue. 14 runs were needed off the last over but it was Rishabh Pant who was getting most of the strike. An edge over third man meant that the DC captain could still have won the game with a maximum off the final ball.
But the wide yorker from Mohammed Siraj was too good for Rishabh Pant to put away and RCB won a thoroughly enthralling game.