IPL 2018: Rishabh Pant bludgeons his way to Orange Cap on Matchday 34, Purple Cap stays with Andrew Tye

BCCI

Rishabh Pant regained possession of the Orange Cap in style on Matchday 34 of IPL 2018 on Thursday. However, the Purple Cap saw no such movement and stayed with Punjab's Andrew Tye (16 wickets in 10 games).

Pant made a blistering 128 not out off 63 balls against table-toppers Hyderabad and became the first player this season to reach the 500-run mark. His overall tally reached 521 -- 28 runs ahead of second-placed Kane Williamson of SRH (493 runs in 11 games) after Matchday 34.  

Talking about the only match of the day, Shikhar Dhawan returned to form in the hour of need as Hyderabad ended Delhi's play-off hopes with a thumping nine-wicket win.

Dhawan (92 off 50 balls) and Kane Williamson (83 off 53 balls) added an unbeaten 176 for the second wicket as table-toppers Hyderabad cruised to the required 188 in 18.5 overs to register their ninth win in 11 games and confirm a berth in the play-offs, becoming the first team to do so this season. With their 8th defeat in 11 games, Delhi finally found themselves out of the play-off reckoning. 

Harshal Patel got rid of Alex Hales (14) early but after that Dhawan and Williamson played with great conviction to take their side to 191/1 with seven balls to go. The Delhi bowlers totally fell by the wayside and failed to make any impression in what was a do-or-die contest for them. 

Earlier in the day, Pant showed both his sublime and ridiculous sides in a batting masterclass. Sublime, because he was Delhi's lone soldier on a very tricky pitch at the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium. Ridiculous, because he was responsible for two run-outs in the Delhi innings. 

However eventually, Pant's sublime side prevailed over his ridiculous side and DD were able to reach a very competitive total of 187/5.