Rishabh Pant smashed an unbeaten 88 as he led Delhi Capitals to a tense IPL win over Gujarat Titans on Wednesday, boosting his chances of playing for India at the T20 World Cup.

Delhi posted 224-4 courtesy of a 113-run stand between Pant and fellow left-hander Axar Patel, who hit 66, after they slipped to 44-3 inside six overs at their home Arun Jaitley Stadium, AFP reported.

The hosts kept Gujarat down to 220-8 to win by four runs after David Miller’s 23-ball 55 and an unbeaten 21 off 11 deliveries by Rashid Khan.

Mukesh Kumar kept his nerve in the final over for Delhi’s fourth win in nine matches as they kept their playoff hopes alive in the T20 tournament.

Pant, 26, struck his third half-century of this season after 14 months away from top level cricket following a frightening car accident when his Mercedes rammed into a barrier, flipped and caught fire in December 2022.

Pant, a wicketkeeper-batsman, suffered multiple injuries and was rushed to hospital before being airlifted to Mumbai for further treatment and surgery.

“Everyday that I’m in the middle, I feel better,” man of the match Pant said after his 43-ball blitz studded with five fours and eight sixes.

“Every hour on the field matters, I love being on the field. I try to give it my 100 percent. I think the first six in the match gives me the confidence in a game.”

Pant has not only fired with the bat in the IPL but his sharp work behind the stumps prompted Delhi’s director of cricket Sourav Ganguly and coach Ricky Ponting to back the India star for making the national team for the World Cup in June, AFP reported.

– ‘Great fight’ –

Up and coming Australian batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk gave Delhi a strong start with his 14-ball 23 but medium-pace bowler Sandeep Warrier took three wickets including two in one over.

Patel, a bowling all-rounder promoted to number three in the batting, brought up his fifty with a boundary off Rashid before another Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad had him caught at long-on.

Pant reached his fifty in style with a six off Mohit Sharma and then hammered the medium-pace bowler in a 31-run 20th over when he finished with a six, four and three hits over the fence to raise the roof.

South African Tristan Stubbs watched the blitz from the other end after he smashed Sai Kishore in the 19th over, which went for 22 runs, for his unbeaten seven-ball 26.

In reply, Gujarat lost skipper Shubman Gill for six off Anrich Nortje before impact substitute Sai Sudarshan smashed 65 off 39 balls.

Gujarat lost regular wickets but the left-handed Miller smashed Nortje for three sixes and a four to give Delhi a scare before his departure in the 18th over.

Rashid kept up the fight till the end as Gujarat needed 19 off the final over and five on the last ball.

“I think we played some really good cricket, disappointing to lose in the end, but great character shown by everyone,” said Gill. “Great fight till the end and we never thought we were out of the game at any point.”

Attack Energy FC defeated Sorkh Poshan Khafi 1-0 in the 9th match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Wednesday.

Hasib Ahadi scored the only goal and was named man of the match.

“I congratulate this victory to the Attack Energy team. It was a good game. There were some problems that, unfortunately, we couldn’t score in the first half of the match. Thank god we finally won the game,” said Ahadi.

In the 10th ACL match, played on Wednesday, Istiqlal Kabul FC beat Mawj Sahil FC 2-1.

Shadab Malikzada was named man of the match and awarded the trophy.

Tomorrow’s matches will see Khadim FC take on Maiwand FC at 1:00 PM, while Jawanan Wahedi FC face Adalat Farah FC at 3:30 PM.

The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television every day.

Abu Muslim Farah FC thrashed Khurasan Faryab FC 6-0 in the 7th match of Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Tuesday.

In the second game of the day – the 8th ACL match – Aino Mina FC beat Sarsabz Yashlar FC 4-0.

Suhrab Afghan from Abu Muslim Farah was top scorer with three goals, Amanullah Sardari scored two goals and Ahmad Khaled Majidi one goal.

Suhrab Afghan, who became the first ACL player to score three goals in one match, was named Man of the Match.

“The game was good and I was able to score three goals with the coordination of the team members,” he said after the match.

Abu Muslim Farah FC team is now sitting at the top of the table with a total of 8 goals so far.

In second position is Aino Mina FC with a total of seven goals.

Following their match against Sarsabz Yashlar FC, Ahnullah Darman was selected as Man of the Match.

“I am happy to represent the people of Kandahar in the Aino Mina team and bring happiness to my people, and I dedicate this victory and award to all the people of Kandahar, especially to my family,” said Darman after accepting the trophy.

Aino Mina FC’s goals were scored by Ahnullah Darman (2), Ahmad Nabi Moqadas (1), and Ramin Hamidi (1).

Head coach of Sarsabz Yashlar FC team shared his disappointment at the team’s loss and said he believes the reason for his team’s defeat is the lack of experienced players.

He said however, he hopes that they will shine in the upcoming matches.

Wednesday’s matches will see Sorkh Poshan Khafi take on Attack Energy FC at 1:00 PM, while Istiqlal Kabul FC face Mawj Sahil FC at 3:30 PM.

The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.