Pant (97) and Samson (61) established a match-winning partnership of 143 off 63 balls.
Rishabh Pant (L), Sanju Samson (R) (Photo: AFP)
Delhi Daredevils stand-in skipper Karun Nair on Friday described the sensational 143-run stand between Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson as one of the best partnership that he has witnessed in his life.
Chasing an imposing 209 to win, Pant (97) and Samson (61) recorded a match-winning partnership of 143 off 63 balls for the second wicket to script the second-highest successful runchase in IPL history en route to Delhi's seven wicket win over Gujarat Lions here.
“Amazing performance, one of the best partnerships I've ever seen,” Nair said after DD romped home, scoring 214-3 with 15 balls to spare.
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“You can't have a plan when you're chasing that much, just have to go from ball 1.
“We spoke about playing with freedom and not worrying about the fear of failure. The fear of getting out goes out the way, you then just watch and hit the ball,” he said.
Man of the Match, Pant said he always looked to score the maximum from the bad balls and it paid off. “We always thought if we get a bad ball, we'll utilise it. If we get three good balls, we'll go for sixes.”
Crestfallen after losing the match which also knocked them out of the IPL, Gujarat Lions skipper Suresh Raina blamed their inexperienced bowlers for the defeat.
“It is Pant's day, he batted very well. Important to bowl dot balls, we tried everything, slower balls, the ball was reversing but that time, the game was over,” he said.
“206 was defendable. We didn't bowl really well. We don't have that experience with the old ball. Tye has done well, Bravo isn't there. They're the future of the Indian team. We were 20-runs short,” he added.
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