Shreyas Iyer grabs limelight with gutsy 96 as Delhi Daredevils pip Gujarat Lions

Shreyas Iyer put on a courageous display with the bat to help Delhi Daredevils recover from early dismissals and beat Gujarat Lions by two wickets in a tight IPL 2017 encounter at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur

Shreyas Iyer played a blistering 96-run knock as he helped Delhi Daredevils (DD) bounce back from early dismissals in their 196-run chase to beat Gujarat Lions (GL) by two wickets in a thrilling IPL 2017 encounter at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium on Wednesday. (GL v DD HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD)

Shreyas Iyer’s 96 helped Delhi Daredevils pull off a thrilling two-wicket win over Gujarat Lions in their IPL 2017 match. (AFP)

Iyer arrived at the crease after the DD were left reeling at 15/2 in the second over following the departures of Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant.

However, he combined with Karun Nair to help the team rebuild the innings. Despite Nair, Marlon Samuels, Corey Anderson and Carlos Brathwaite all falling after regular intervals at the other end, Iyer kept his composure to help DD stay in the game.

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He also set a 61-run stand with Pat Cummins for the seventh wicket to bring the side within touching distance of a win.

With DD needing just seven more to win, Iyer, however, was dismissed at four runs short of his century. It was too little, too late for GL, as Amit Mishra sealed the win for DD with two consecutive boundaries.

Iyer’s rise

The career-graph of Iyer, 22, has pointed only one way until now --- up. In the 2015 IPL season, the youngster amassed 439 runs for Delhi Daredevils. And in the 2015-16 season, his prolific scoring carried Mumbai to their 41st Ranji Trophy title.

Iyer’s contribution was 1,321 runs at a superb average of 73.38. Such was the faith in the player’s ability that he was drafted into the Indian squad as a standby for the injured skipper Virat Kohli in the final Test against Australia in Dharamsala.

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Shreyas Iyer wasn’t available for Delhi Darevils from the start due to chicken pox.

On Wednesday, Iyer showed his natural flair for taking on the bowling with audacious shots even when it looked that Gujarat Lions may have taken control of the match after Ravindra Jadeja produced two direct run outs.

Iyer’s performances are making sure that India’s national selectors will have on an eye on the youngster in the near future.