Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant narrowly escaped a one-match ban in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season after his team avoided a third over-rate infringement during their victory over the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Friday.
Pant had previously been fined twice for slow over rates, and a third offense would have resulted in an automatic suspension. However, DC managed to make up for lost time in the final overs of their match against LSG, ensuring that Pant remained eligible to play.
According to IPL regulations, teams that fall behind the over rate are penalized and restricted to fielding only four players outside the inner circle instead of the usual five. For the first offense, the captain is fined Rs 12 lakh, while the second offense doubles the fine to Rs 24 lakh and imposes a Rs 6 lakh or 25% match fee penalty on each player in the playing XI. A third offense incurs a Rs 30 lakh fine and a one-match ban for the captain.
Pant’s impressive performance in DC’s victory over LSG, in which he scored a quickfire 41, helped his team secure their second win of the campaign. Jake Fraser-McGurk also made a significant contribution on his debut, smashing 55 off 35 balls.
With this victory, DC moved up to ninth place in the 10-team standings, while Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) dropped to the bottom. Pant and his team will next face the Gujarat Titans in an away match.
