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Watch: Rishabh Pant shows lightning-quick reflexes to remove Shreyas Iyer in DC vs KKR IPL 2022 game
IPL 2022: About his low catch, Rishabh Pant said he's been working on his glovework in the nets.
Rishabh Pant on Thursday perished on just two and the Delhi Capitals skipper was also questioned for a couple of captaincy calls. While the Delhi outfit posted a comfortable four-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders to keep their playoff hopes alive, Pant received some flak for not completing Kuldeep Yadav's full quota of overs despite the chinaman bowler returning 4/14 in his three. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)
The 24-year-old Pant, however, enjoyed his stay behind the stumps as he showed lightning-quick reflexes to grab a low catch. He was earlier criticised for his poor basics while keeping but the Uttarakhand-born keeper seems to have elevated his glovework. During Kuldeep's third over of the night, Pant stayed low as opposition captain Iyer cut the ball and got a faint bottom-edge on the shot. Pant was quick to judge the ball and make no mistake to pluck a clean catch, and the replays confirmed Iyer's exit for 42.
Three deliveries later, Pant also inflicted a lucky stumping as removed Andre Russell for a nought and Kuldeep added another wicket to his name. "It was a stunning catch but a bit of luck has helped Pant with that stumping," said Kevin Pietersen from the commentary box.
Fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman went on to pick up three wickets in the final over to restrict Kolkata to 146/9. In response, Delhi overcame a middle-order collapse before Rovman Powell’s unbeaten 33 off 16 balls carried his team past the finish line.
About his low catch, Pant said he's been working on his glovework in the nets. "In practice, I have been keeping enough and it was one of my best catches of the season," he said in the post-match presentation.
The Capitals skipper also talked about his decision of not giving Kuldeep a fourth over. "I was thinking to give him another over from this end. Then we thought he'd get the over from the other end. The ball was getting wet because of that so we thought it was better to give it to a fast bowler. I stopped him to give him a change of pace in the match. It didn't work in our favour but it's part and parcel of the game."
While Delhi Capitals with eight points are placed sixth, Kolkata Knight Riders remained third from the bottom in the league standings.
