Gautam Gambhir marked his return to Delhi Daredevils with a fine fifty, helping his side post a competitive total of 166 for seven against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali.
Wickets fell at regular intervals from one end, but Gambhir held firm to lay the foundation for a good total.
Sent in to bat first, the Daredevils were off to a poor start, losing opener Colin Munro cheaply. The Kiwi star fell to Afghanistan’s teenage sensation Mujeeb Ur Rahman for just four in the third over.
Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer then steadied the ship. However, just when it seemed the duo is set for a big stand, Axar Patel struck gold. The left-arm spinner accounted for Iyer to end the promising 42-run stand.
Delhi’s innings then received further setback when Vijay Shankar failed, leaving the side reeling at 77 for three. But before Punjab could strength their grip on the game, Rishabh Pant gave Delhi’s innings the much-needed impetus. The youngster scored 28 off just 12 balls before being sent back by Mujeeb.
In the meanwhile, Gambhir reached his fifty. However, the southpaw could not convert it into a big score, as he was run out for 55.
Chris Morris and Dan Christian then shared an unbeaten partnership of runs to take Delhi to a good total. The duo hit some occasional lusty blows to end the innings strongly.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the innings:
Two wickets and then a direct hit to get rid of Gambhir – Mujeeb is making an impact and how
— Nikhil ? (@CricCrazyNIKS) April 8, 2018
What a good return to DD for Gambhir, 50 and a run out to top it. #KXIPvDD
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) April 8, 2018
Gautam Gambhir batting like a man on a mission…#IPL
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 8, 2018
Gambhir has already scored more runs than Dhoni going to score in whole ipl
— EngiNerd. (@mainbhiengineer) April 8, 2018
Ravichandran Kumble!
— Nikhil ? (@CricCrazyNIKS) April 8, 2018
Shankar is suited for fc/Test cricket. This is not the format for him.
— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) April 8, 2018
Ashwin doing leg spin bowling just to give tough competition to Kuldeep & Chahal. Shameless.
— sunil the cricketer (@1sInto2s) April 8, 2018
R Ashwin's leggie action is right out of the Anil Kumble bowling books eh?#IPL2018 #DDvKXIP
— Suneer (@suneerchowdhary) April 8, 2018
gambhir is thrashing the bowlers as if they all had kashmiri pulao for lunch. #KXIPvDD
— Rofl Gandhi 2.0 ? (@RoflGandhi_) April 8, 2018
Gambhir is one of the finest players of spin I have seen though.
— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) April 8, 2018
Gayle was never picked to be a part of the 11, but to party hard with Yuvraj Singh. He won't disappoint though #KXIPvDD
— cric_bakchod (@Cric_bakchod) April 8, 2018