Rishabh Pant is known as an attacking batsman. The left-hander rarely tries to curb his natural game and slow down his innings. He showed his aggression once again by smashing a 32-ball century against Himachal Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in New Delhi on Sunday. The Delhi wicketkeeper was at his best and brought up his hundred in no time. The 32-ball century against Himachal by Pant is now the second fastest century in T20 cricket, two balls behind Chris Gayle 30-ball century for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in Indian Premier League.
This was Pant’s first century in T20s and what a way to bring it up. He played only 38 deliveries in his 116-run unbeaten knock that included 12 sixes and eight fours. His stunning innings helped Delhi beat Himachal Pradesh by 10 wickets in the group stage match of the tournament.
Chasing a target of 145, Pant and Gautam Gambhir opened the batting for Delhi and showed their intent from the first over itself. Though Gambhir did not take the risks, Pant did not shy away from launching a all out attack against the Himachal bowlers. Gambhir rotated the strike with ease and scored 33 runs off 38 balls.
Pant, however, did not seem to care and his strokemaking was on full display. His strike-rate read 305.26 and that helped Delhi chase down the target off just 70 balls. Pant enjoyed a good day on the field. Before his maiden century, he took four catches behind the wicket and helped Delhi restrict Himachal for 144 for 7.
When Himachal came to bowl, they did not expect such carnage from Pant. Dheeraj Kumar and Kanwar Abhishek were the two of the most expensive bowlers as they leaked 39 and 41 runs respectively from their two overs each.
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