IPL 2017: Dinesh Karthik’s presses claim for Champions Trophy, hits 14th fifty

Dinesh Karthik’s 14th IPL fifty and his 133-run stand with Suresh Raina propelled Gujarat Lions to 208/7 but it all went in vain as Rishabh Pant’s blistering 97 helped Delhi Daredevils seal the deal with 15 balls to spare.

Dinesh Karthik complimented Gujarat Lions skipper Suresh Raina’s magnificent fifty with a blazing half-century of his own off 28 balls but it all went in vain as Rishabh Pant’s brilliance helped Delhi Daredevils win the IPL 2017 contest with 15 balls remaining. (DD vs GL Highlights)

Dinesh Karthik slammed his 14th fifty as Gujarat Lions scored 208/7 vs Delhi Daredevils in an IPL 2017 match on Thursday. (BCCI)

Raina, who notched up his 31st fifty, was given good support by Karthik as the right-hander slammed his 14th fifty and the second off this edition. (DD vs GL Scorecard)

Coming into bat in the second over after the loss of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum, Karthik survived some nervous moments at the start of his innings as Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins bowled aggressively. However, the right-hander settled down by driving Cummins past mid-off for a boundary.

This gave Karthik immense confidence and he proceeded to target leg-spinner Amit Mishra. He cut a wide ball from Mishra to the deep backward point boundary and he followed up by pulling another short ball into the stands at deep mid wicket. Karthik continued to bat aggressively as he launched left-arm orthodox spinner Shahbaz Nadeem for two consecutive sixes as the partnership with Raina went past 100. This was the first 100-run stand for Gujarat Lions in the 2017 IPL.

Karthik reached closer to the landmark by pulling New Zealand medium-pacer Corey Anderson for a six over long leg and he notched up the milestone with a nudge to square leg.