IPL: Pant, Iyer guide Delhi to 174/5 against Bangalore

Shreyas Iyer (52) and Rishabh Pant (85) helped Delhi Daredevils (DD) post a fighting 174/5 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 19th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

Iyer and Pant then showed some resistance, sharing a 75-run partnership for the third wicket as Delhi recovered from a poor start.

Put into bat, Delhi were off to a poor start as both the openers Jason Roy (5) and Gautam Gambhir (3) were back in the dug out with the scorecard reading just 23 runs in 5.4 overs.

While pacer Umesh Yadav dismissed Gambhir, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal clean bowled Roy.

Pant and Iyer eased the pressure on the visitors as they took time to settle down before finding occassional big shots.

Spinner Washington Sundar finally broke Delhi's momentum, dismissing Iyer, who was looking good, in the 14th over with Delhi's score being 98/3. Iyer departed after hitting four fours and three sixes.

With the addition of just another seven runs in Delhi' scorecard, Chahal sent back incoming batter Glenn Maxwell (4).

However, Pant kept the fight alive for his side and slammed 18 runs off a Chris Woakes' 18th over to lift Delhi to 163/4.

Trying to go big in the final over, Pant was finally dismissed by Corey Anderson. The Delhi batter's 48-ball 85-run knock was guided by six boundaries and seven sixes.

Rahul Tewatia's 13 off 9 for Delhi helped the visitors reach a fighting total.

For RCB, Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/22 while Umesh, Anderson and Sundar bagged one wicket apiece.

Brief Scores: Delhi Daredevils: 174/5 (Rishabh Pant 85, Shreayas Iyer 52; Yuzvendra Chahal 2/22) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore.

--IANS

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