Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Rishabh Pantβs final over onslaught turned out to be the difference between the two teams as the hosts won the last-ball thriller by four runs against Gujarat Titans (GT) at home. David Miller and Sai Sudharsanβs fifties went in vain as Rashid Khan failed to finish in the high-scoring run chase at Arun Jaitley Stadium. The win helped DC move to sixth position on the points table to leave GT and Mumbai Indians (MI) behind.
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Pant, Axar help DC recover from early blows
Earlier, Gill won the toss and opted to field first. Jake Fraser-McGurk and Prithvi Shaw got DC off to a flyer. In the fourth over, Sandeep Warrier ended Fraser-McGurk's cameo. The young Australian hit two sixes and two fours in his 14-ball 23. In the same over, Noor Ahmad took another catch. Prithvi Shaw departed for a seven-ball 11. Replacing David Warner in the side, Shai Hope fialed to make a mark and became Warrier's third victim in the powerplay overs. DC were 44/3 after six overs. Axar Patel and Pant tried to play themselves in. After a slow start they accelerated. In the 15th over, Axar justified his promotion to no.3 and reached his maiden half-century of the season from 37 balls.Β
Pant goes berserk in slog overs
Pant took out the helicopter against Mohit Sharma and hit him for two sixes. In the 17th over, Ahmad was hit for two consecutive sixes by Axar. He tried to complete a hat-trick and got caught at long-on. The all-rounder scored 66 runs from 43 balls including five fours and four sixes. Mohit was expensive in the 18th over too conceding 14 runs. In the penultimate over, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore was introduced into the attack. Tristan Stubbs hit him for two fours and two sixes. In the final over, Pant made Mohit look clueless. The skipper hit him for four sixes and a four. Pant remained unbeaten for 43-ball 88. On the other end, Stubbs contributed with a seven-ball 26. DC posted 224/4, the highest total against GT.
Ideal start in run chase
In the run chase, Gill fell after facing just five deliveries. He got caught at mid-off in the second over bowled by Anrich Nortje. Next ball, Sai Sudharsan hit the first six of the innings. Wriddhiman Saha took the attack to Khaleel Ahmed hitting him for two fours and a six. Impact player Rasikh Dar conceded 10 runs in his first over. After powerplay overs, GT were 67/1. Axar and Kuldeep Yadav controlled the flow of runs in the middle overs. The left-arm chinaman got the breakthrough in the 10th over. Axar took a brilliant catch to dismiss Saha. He scored 39 runs from 25 balls. In the same over, Sudharsan got to his half-century from 29 balls. At the halfway stage, GT were 98/2.
Sudharsan, Millerβs fifties go in vain
Azmatullah Omarzai went for a slog and was caught by Fraser-McGurk. He was dismissed for a single-digit score. Dar came back into the attack and ended Sudharsan's stay with a fuller length delivery. He scored 65 runs from 39 balls including seven fours and two sixes. Shahrukh Khan got off the mark with a six. Dar struck again to send Shahrukh back to the dugout. Kuldeep off the last ball of his quota of four overs got rid of Rahul Tewatia. In the 17th over, Nortje was taken to the cleaners by Miller. He hit three sixes and a four. The South African reached his fifty from 21 balls. Rashid was given an early reprieve as Abhishek Porel dropped his catch. In the same over, Mukesh got the wicket of Miller. He scored 55 runs from 23 balls. Kishore in the penultimate over hit Dar for two sixes before getting bowled. GT needed 19 runs in the final over. Rashid hit two fours and a six. On the last ball, he could not clear the boundary as GT lost by four runs.
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