Delhi wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, abruptly sacked from captaincy a week ago, gave another example of his rare talent by blasting a record 32- ball hundred in a North Zone match against Himachal Pradesh, here on Sunday.
Pant pummelled the opposition attack with the fastest century from an Indian to fire his team to a 10-wicket win in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. Pant remained unbeaten on 116 off 38 balls. His breathtaking knock comprised 12 sixes and eight fours as Delhi raced to the 145-run target in 11.4 overs.
Read: Services, J&K spring a surprise in Syed Mustaq Ali T20
Gautam Gambhir was left a mere spectator at the other end with 30 off 33 balls. His brutal innings was also the second fastest hundred in T20s, only behind Chris Gayle, who hammered 100 off 30 balls against Pune Warriors in the 2013 Indian Premier League.
Read - Rishabh Pant: 'Records happen if you keep scoring'
The southpaw also surpassed Rohit Sharma, who hit a 35- ball hundred against Sri Lanka in T20 International at Indore last month. Pant’s performance left a handful of spectators at the Ferozshah Kotla awestruck, including Yuvraj Singh, who witnessed a special knock by another left-hander before taking the field for Punjab.
“Just witnessed some outstanding hitting by @RishabPant777 scintillating ton,” tweeted Yuvraj.
For Delhi, it was their third win in four matches with their last league match to be played against Services on Tuesday. Pant has been in ominous touch in the zonal event and had hammered 51 off 33 balls in the previous match against Jammu and Kashmir.
Delhi on top of the table, J&K upsets Punjab
Pant’s knock helped Delhi go on top of the standing with three wins in four games and a massive run rate advantage to boot. But the major upset of the day was minnows Jammu & Kashmir winning by 23-runs against a heavyweight Punjab side who failed to counter the left-arm spin of Waseem Raza, who picked up four wickets. Chasing 164, Punjab was all out for 141, 53 of those coming from Manan Vohra.
The scores: HP 144 for eight in 20 overs (Nikhil Gangta 40, Prashant Chopra 30; Pradeep Sangwan two for 39) lost to Delhi 148 for no loss in 11.4 overs (Rishabh Pant 116 not out, Gautam Gambhir 30 not out).
Points: Delhi 4, HP 0.
J&K 164 for three in 20 overs (Ian Chauhan 43 not out, Manzoor Dar 38 not out, Jatin Wadhwan 35, Bandeep Singh 33; Harbhajan Singh 2-12) bt Punjab 141 in 19 overs (Manan Vohra 53, Gurkeerat Mann 34; Waseem Raza four for 16, Umar Nazir two for 36).
Points: J&K 4, Punjab 0.
Comments
SHARE