18-year-old Pant, playing in only his third IPL match, stole the limelight as he hit a 40-ball 69 with the help of nine fours and two sixes as the Daredevils chased down the target of 150 with 16 balls to spare at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.

Uttarakhand boy Pant, who hit some exquisite shots including a six each off James Faulkner and Suresh Raina, stitched 115 runs for the opening wicket with Quinton de Kock (46) and that took the game away from the Lions who lost their second consecutive match and third in nine games.

With this win, their fifth in seven matches, the Daredevils now have 10 points to occupy the second spot behind the Lions who have 12 points from nine matches.

Daredevils ended the formalities as Sanju Samson (19 not out) hit a six off a delivery bowled by Ravindra Jadeja to reach 150 for 2 in 17.2 overs.

Earlier, Dinesh Karthik (53) struck a solid half century to steer Gujarat Lions from a woeful start to a respectable 149 for seven after being put into bat.

The Lions, who lost their previous match after a spell of victories, made a disastrous start as they were reduced to 24 for 3 in the fourth over before Karthik’s 43-ball innings, which had five fours, took them to just below 150-mark.

For Daredevils, Shahbaz Nedeem took two wickets while Zaheer Khan, Chris Morris, Mohammed Shami and Amit Mishra got one each.