The Gujarat Titans (GT) vs Delhi Capitals (DC) encounter turned out to be a nerve-wracking encounter. Old warhorse Ishant Sharma held on his nerves to defend 12 runs against a rampant Rahul Tewatia, set batter Hardik Pandya and pinch-hitter Rashid Khan and hand his side a five-run win. This was the first time GT lost a game in the season while chasing as skipper Pandya remained stranded on one end in the end.
GT's run chase did not get off to an ideal start. Impact player Khaleel Ahmed started off with the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha who bagged a six-ball duck. In his next over, Khaleel took a beating from Pandya who hit him for three fours. Anrich Nortje was introduced into the attack and he got rid of opener Shubman Gill for a single-digit score. In the fifth over, Ishant Sharma deceived Vijay Shankar with a knuckleball. After powerplay overs, GT were 31/3. Right after fielding restrictions were lifted, Kuldeep Yadav got the big wicket of David Miller who attempted an unnecessary ramp shot.
Boundaries dried up for few overs as Abhinav Manohar took his time to settle. In the 10th over, Manohar broke the shackles with a six off Axar. After 10 overs, GT were 49/4 with Pandya playing the anchor role. Not a single boundary was scored in the next three overs. Pandya found timely boundaries to prevent the required run rate to skyrocket. But Kuldeep finished his spell with an excellent over. In the final three overs, GT needed 37 to win. Khaleel broke the partnership with the wicket of Manohar. He scored 26 runs from 33 balls including one six.
In the final two overs, GT needed 33 runs. Meanwhile, Pandya had reached his half-century. In the penultimate over, Nortje kept Pandya quite. Tewatia decided to take on Tewatia and smashed him for three consecutive sixes. Nortje erred with his line and bowled two full tosses to make hitting easier for Tewatia. In the final over, DC needed 12 runs. Ishant was given the responsibility. Pandya took a couple followed by a single. Ishant followed it up with a dot ball to Tewatia. The southpaw went for a big shot next ball but the ball found Rossouw's hands. New batter Rashid Khan took a couple of runs next ball. Ishant finished well and allowed just a single as DC won the game by five runs. Pandya remained stranded on 59 runs from 53 balls including seven fours.
Earlier, Warner won the toss and opted to bat first. Shami struck first ball to remove last match's half-centurion Phil Salt for a golden duck. In the second over, Priyam Garg miscommunicated with Warner who was caught short of the crease. Replacing an unwell Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw showed promise in the beginning with two fours off Pandya but Shami got his wicket in the next over. In the fifth over, Shami struck twice to remove Manish Pandey and Priyam Garg as DC lost half their side for 23. After powerplay overs, DC were 28/5.
Shami completed his spell and returned with best bowling figures for GT (4/11). Aman hit the first six of the innings off Rashid in the eighth over. In Rashid's next over, Axar did the same. At halfway stage, DC were 54/5. In the 14th over, Mohit Sharma broke the partnership with Axar's wicket. The in-form batter scored 27 runs from 30 balls including two fours and one six. Aman continued to anchor the innings.
After the strategic break, Ripal Patel took on Joshua Little hitting him for two boundaries in the 16-run over. In the next over, Aman hit Mohit for a six and then reached his maiden IPL half-century from 41 balls. In the penultimate over, Rashid got hit for a six by Ripal and then got the wicket of Aman. He scored 51 runs from 44 balls including three fours and as many sixes. Mohit came back well and bowled an excellent final over conceding just three runs from it. Ripal got out off the fifth ball. He scored 23 runs from 113 balls including two fours and one six. His cameo helped DC post 130/8.
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