Rishabh Pant almost sealed his place as India’s first-choice wicketkeeper for the T20 World Cup with an aggressive unbeaten half-century in Delhi Capitals’ close four-run win over Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday. Captain Pant and Axar Patel scored individual half-centuries and stitched a strong partnership of 113 runs off 68 balls, helping DC reach 224 for 4 in their must-win game. In reply, Sai Sudarshan (65 off 29 balls) and David Miller (55 off 23 balls) scored fifties, while Rashid Khan scored 21 not out from 11 balls, but still could not take GT over the line. Due to which their score ended at 220 runs for 8 wickets. 20 overs.

When sent in to bat, Pant led from the front, remaining unbeaten on 88 off 43 balls (5X4s, 8X6s), his innings proving to be a timely reminder to the national selectors who named him in India’s first XI against Pakistan. There is a possibility of choosing in. Barring fitness issues, World T20 match in New York.

Pant’s maturity was on display when he carried on his innings brilliantly with Axar, who scored 66 off 43 balls after being promoted to number three. His innings included five fours and four sixes.

Chasing 225, GT lost captain Shubman Gill in the second over, but Wriddhiman Saha (39) played some brilliant shots and along with impact sub Sai Sudarshan stitched a partnership of 82 runs for the second wicket to help GT chase down the wicket. Maintained in.

But once Saha was gone, Azmatullah Umarzai too was soon caught brilliantly by Jake Fraser-McGurk at deep midwicket off Axar.

But Sudarshan, who got a lease of life in the fifth over, made excellent use of his long handle and completed his half-century in 29 balls.

But as the asking rate continued to rise, Sudarshan had to go for his shots, which eventually led to his downfall as he was caught by Axar off Salam’s delivery at long-off. He hit seven fours and two sixes.

Miller (55 off 23, 6X4, 3X6) then produced a good performance to take them closer to the target and once he was out, Rashid scored an unbeaten 21 off 11 balls to give GT hope .

With 19 runs needed in the last over, Rashid hit two consecutive fours off the first two balls of Mukesh Kumar and then reduced the deficit to 5 runs on the last ball by sending the fast bowler over the fence.

But Mukesh remained calm as Rashid failed to clear the fence due to GT’s short distance.

But Wednesday’s game was entirely Pant’s name as he played a brilliant innings to put to rest all doubts about his chances in the World T20 Cup. The flamboyant keeper batsman also performed brilliantly behind the stumps and took two quick catches.

Earlier, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Prithvi Shaw gave a great start to DC and scored 34 runs in 3 overs.

Fraser-McGurk, who scored a blistering 65 off 18 balls in his last match, was at his best and brilliantly pulled the GT bowlers over the fence but his innings was cut short by Sandeep Warrier as the young The Australian was dismissed at square. Feet by Noor Ahmed.

It was a double blow for DC in the fourth over as Shaw was caught by Noor off the bowling of Warrior with a good diving effort at deep backward square leg two balls later as the batsman went for a maximum.

DC’s problems worsened when Warriors took their second wicket of the day in the form of Shai Hope, who was caught diving by Rashid at the cover boundary as DC read 44 for 3 in the powerplay.

With three wickets falling, Pant and Axar initially played intelligently and tried to build a partnership, but once they were settled, they started their brutal attack.

Pant started slow, but as time progressed, his confidence grew and he used his trademark pick-up shots off his feet, cuts and pulls to score runs.

While Pant looked in full flow after finding his rhythm, Axar played the second fiddle but did not hesitate in sending the bad balls near the fence.

But as the innings progressed, Axar increased his pace and completed his half-century in 37 balls by hitting a four on Rashid on the last ball of the 15th over.

Pant attacked anything at his feet, hitting Mohit Sharma for a six over midwicket in the 16th over. He then dismissed Mohit at long-off in the same over to increase DC’s run rate.

In the 17th over, Akshar equaled his captain’s stroke-for-stroke and hit two big sixes on Noor in a row.

But in search of one, Akshar was caught out by Sai Kishore at long-on on the next ball.

Pant completed his half-century by hitting Mohit’s ball on the long-on fence.

Tristan Stubbs’ inning of 26 runs in seven balls and Pant’s fireworks in the end took DC past 200 runs.

Pant wreaked havoc on Mohit in the last over and scored 31 runs by hitting four sixes and a four to the experienced bowler.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)