Defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) suffered an agonising five-run defeat against the Delhi Capitals at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 2 (Tuesday). Chasing a below-par target of 131 runs in front of their home crowd, the Titans faltered under pressure despite captain Hardik Pandya being on the crease for 19 overs and remaining unbeaten in the end. GT kept losing wickets in regular intervals and their slow approach towards a low target came back to bite them.
"Obviously, we would have taken 129 on any given day. Just lost a couple of wickets but Rahul got us back in the game. I tried hard but failed to get across the line. We were hoping to get a couple of big overs in the middle overs. We couldn't get a rhythm as well," Hardik said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Hardik played a perfect role and provided stability to GT's innings as wickets kept falling at the other end. Though the scoring rate was way below par, the target was never daunting and GT batters had the luxury to take time in the middle with proven finishers waiting in the ranks. In the end, Hardik remained unbeaten on 59 runs off 53 balls but he failed to take his team to the promised land.
Rahul Tewatia smashed three consecutive sixes off Anrich Nortje to close the 19th over. Tewatia's onslaught brought the equation down to 12 runs needed off the last over. Ishant Sharma delivered a stifling over and conceded just six runs to dash GT's hopes.
"It came down to me as I couldn't finish the game. But full marks for the way they bowled. The wicket didn't play much role. It was about us feeling the pressure due to the loss of wickets. Rahul got us back in the game, but it wasn't enough. We kept losing wickets and it was difficult to keep the intent. That puts us under more pressure," Hardik opined
"I feel sorry for Shami to be honest. The batters were disappointed tonight. The ball didn't do a lot. It was all about Shami's skills tonight. Full credit to him. But as I said, the batters were disappointed and I was not good at all. Still a lot of games left. We will learn from this game and look to rectify those in the upcoming games. We need to keep playing good cricket," the GT skipper signed off.
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