Rishabh Pant celebrated his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) hundred for Lucknow Super Giants with a somersault on Tuesday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Ekana Stadium. Coming into the game after a lackluster season and just one fifty, Pant clobbered the opposition bowlers to race away to a 54-ball ton.
It was Pant‘s second IPL hundred after his 128 not out off 63 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018 while playing for Delhi Capitals. Notably, the 54-ball ton by the LSG captain is also the fastest hundred by a batter from the Lucknow-based franchise.
The three-figure mark for Pant came on the fifth ball of the 18th over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar when the southpaw went wide to reach the ball which sailed through covers to the boundary. Following the century, Pant celebrates his ton with a somersault, much to the cheers of the whole LSG dugout. He remained unbeaten at 118 runs from 61 balls which included 11 fours and eight sixes.
In the process, the 27-year-old thus became the fourth LSG batter to score an IPL hundred after Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh and KL Rahul.
Rishabh Pant decimates RCB bowlers
After winning the toss and opting to bowl, Nuwan Thushara ensured RCB got off to an authoritative start by cleaning up Matthew Breetzke’s (14) off-stump with a low full toss. The South African missed the drive completely, and the stump went for a walk in the third over.
Pant surprisingly promoted himself in the batting order and ensured LSG walked out of the powerplay unscathed with 55/1 on the board. Pant and Mitchell Marsh (67) put in a swashbuckling batting effort and decimated RCB’s depleted bowling attack.
RCB need to break the shackles and chase record books, considering they have chased a 200-plus score twice in IPL history, and the highest target that has been pursued at the Ekana Stadium stands at 207. The LSG captain stayed until the end and kept hitting RCB bowlers for boundaries. He struck at a strike rate of 193.44.
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